Red Mile: Tactical Approach wires, Melander doubles in Bluegrass Series

Tactical Approach, Kilmister and Oh Well won as heavy favorites in the three $78,000 Bluegrass Series dashes for sophomore colt and gelding trotters on Saturday afternoon at The Red Mile.

Hambletonian champion Tactical Approach lowered his mark to 1:50 1/5 in winning the second test. Put on the front-end today by driver Scott Zeron, Tactical Approach clicked off fractions of 28, 56 1/5 and 1:23 3/5 and defeated pocket-sitter French Wine (Andy Miller) by a length and a quarter. Air Power (Mattias Melander) put in a first-over bid out of fifth on the final bend but had to settle for third.

"He felt great up on the front today, and when I asked him down the lane he responded," said Zeron. "French Wine is an even better horse when he pulls the shoes, and he had the shoes off him today. He was a valiant contender.

"He's showed that he can repeatedly do well if I have him in the right position. Sometimes I've been out of position. He's actually been really nice to handle. He's honestly a driver's dream. He's perfectly relaxed, and when he heads into the last turn, he tells you he wants to go."

By Tactical Landing and bred by Steve Stewart and Oakwood Farms, Nancy Takter-trained Tactical Approach is owned by John Fielding, Robert Leblanc and Joe Sbrocco and JAF Racing. This was his ninth win from 19 career starts, he has now earned $788,989, and he returned $3.40 to win as the 3-5 favorite.

Kilmister (Brian Sears) moved from third to first after the 27 3/5 quarter in the first division, and after middle-half stations of 55 2/5 and 1:23 3/5, he trotted a 27 second final panel to win by a length and a half in a career-best 1:50 3/5. Early leader Point Of Perfect (Yannick Gingras) was second from the pocket and Cecil Hanover (Ake Svanstedt) rallied well from off-the-pace to get third.

A Chapter Seven colt bred by Moni Market Breeders, Kilmister is trained by Marcus Melander for owner Courant Inc. He is now an eight-time winner from 22 starts, has put away $786,639 and paid $4.08 to win as the even-money favorite.

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Melander also won the finale with Oh Well in 1:51 2/5. 72-1 shot Country Dagger (Sears) was in the lead at the 27 second quarter, 55 second half and 1:24 1/5 three-quarters, but Oh Well (Tim Tetrick) vaulted off the cover of Dire Straits (David Miller) and drew clear to win by a pair of lengths over pocket-sitter Little Expensive (A. Miller). Spending Crazy (Zeron) got up for third.

"He made a lot of money last year, and he's been great this year as well. Too many seconds, but he's been racing consistent and good all year," Melander said. "He's had a great season. Hopefully we can get a big win here next week or up in the Breeders Crown.

"We'll see. We'll take this season first and then we'll decide. It feels like we raced him pretty light last year. We only made eight starts with him as a 2-year-old and kept him on big tracks. He feels like a sound horse and I think he still has a lot of races yet."

Bred by Concord Stud Farm, the S R F Stable-owned Oh Well has a summary of 7-10-0 from 19 trips behind the gate and has banked $1,257,397. The Muscle Hill colt returned $2.60 to win as the 1-5 choice.