Red Mile: Svanstedt pupils surprise in Bluegrass Series

Ake Svanstedt guided his trainees Mon Amour and Fly Light to big upsets in the two Bluegrass Series events for 3-year-old male trotters on Sunday afternoon at The Red Mile.

In the first $103,500 division, which was raced in an absolute downpour, Plumville Prince (Scott Zeron) led to the 28 second opening quarter. He would then be overtaken by Take All Comers (Brian Sears) past that station, while Mon Amour and Svanstedt watched from third after tucking in from post eight. Take All Comers remained in front to the 57 4/5 half and the 1:27 3/5 three-quarters, but Mon Amour, who went first-over from third in the backstretch and then moved up into second on the final bend, forged his way by in the lane. Once he took command, Mon Amour kicked away to win by two lengths in 1:55 2/5. Balenciaga (Mark MacDonald) rallied from third-over to finish second and Locatelli (Andrew McCarthy) came in third.

A Muscle Hill colt bred by D Farm LLC., Mon Amour is owned by Al Libfeld, Marvin and Lynn Katz, and Sam Goldband. This was his fifth win from 19 career starts, and he has now earned $159,300. He returned $108.00 to win after being sent off at 53-1.

Rattle My Cage (Andy Miller) led through fractions of 28, 55 2/5, and 1:24 in the other $104,500 flight, giving a parking ticket to a two-wide In Range (Tim Tetrick) in the middle-half. On the last turn, Ahundreddollarbill went three-wide from fifth and was able to rally into a narrow lead in the stretch, but Svanstedt had Fly Light finishing powerfully while widest in the lane, and a 28 second final kicker propelled him from eighth at three-quarters to the win by a widening 4 3/4 lengths in 1:53. Really Fast (Dexter Dunn) checked in second and Ahundreddollarbill had to settle for third.

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Fly Light is a Father Patrick gelding bred by Katz and Libfeld and owned by Ake Svanstedt Inc. and Stable Why Not. He has compiled a record of 3-3-3 from 16 lifetime attempts, and he has now pocketed $313,021. He was a 22-1 shot and paid $47.60 to win.