Red Mile: Test Of Faith bags Bluegrass battle for sophomore pacing fillies

Test Of Faith got back on the winning side of things after being defeated in the Jugette final last time out, capturing the $150,000 Bluegrass Series race for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Sunday afternoon at The Red Mile in 1:50 2/5.

Blue Diamond Eyes (Yannick Gingras) went to the top from post seven in the event, with Grace Hill (Todd McCarthy) landing in the pocket and Test Of Faith (David Miller) third. Blue Diamond Eyes hit the quarter in 28 3/5 and the half in 56 3/5, but Fire Start Hanover (Dexter Dunn) was already out and moving first-over from fifth before the latter marker.

On the far turn and to the 1:24 1/5 three-quarters, Blue Diamond Eyes and Fire Start Hanover battled, with Blue Diamond Eyes able to hold on to her advantage at the inside. Meanwhile, Test Of Faith bided her time on the cones before slipping out to follow Fire Start Hanover from second-over on the bend.

In the lane Blue Diamond Eyes got a bit of separation from Fire Start Hanover and began to dig in, but Miller cut Test Of Faith loose three-wide, and she had the best kick when it was time for everybody to show their cards, as she surged by the leaders on her way to a 1 1/2 length victory. Grace Hill came through a seam on the rail to finish second, and Fire Start Hanover got up for third over Blue Diamond Eyes.

Brett Pelling trains Test Of Faith, a daughter of Art Major bred by Fred Hertrich III of Allamerican Harnessbreds, for owners Mel Segal, Kentuckiana Racing Stable, and Eddie Gran. Test Of Faith has a summary of 18-3-0 from 21 lifetime starts, and she pushed her earnings past the $1 million mark, as they now sit at $1,051,739. The 3-5 favorite, Test Of Faith paid $3.20 to win.

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"Brett and Jack [Pelling] have done a great job with the filly throughout her career and obviously did a great job getting her ready for this week, so it was an exciting day for us," said Ken Jackson of Kentuckiana Farms. "Because [of] where she's staked in New York, she doesn't get on the big track often. So we're excited to be on it and obviously we get to finish out the year that way."