Red Mile: Victorianas Secret fends off challengers in Kentucky Championship Series

Victorianas Secret swooped to the front mid-race and dug gamely through the stretch for a 1:50 2/5 victory in the $80,000 fourth preliminary of the Kentucky Championship Series for 3-year-old trotting fillies on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 9) at The Red Mile.

Leaving from post seven, driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. pushed Victorianas Secret forward and secured the pocket briefly into the first turn as She's Moni (driven by Yannick Gingras) brushed by early leader Islandgirl Hanover (Joe Bongiorno) to the opening quarter in 27 seconds. Wrenn Jr. waited for She's Moni to settle on the lead in the backstretch and then angled Victorianas Secret off the pegs to march up and grab command through a 54 2/5 half while staying on the muscle through the final turn.

Nezuko Kamado S (Scott Zeron), the 2-5 favorite, tipped out of fourth to grind up the rim and reached the leader's wheel to three-quarters in 1:22 but struggled to surge by upon straightening for the finish. Victorianas Secret stayed to task tightly at the pylons and reached for the finish to cross the beam a half-length better than She's Moni, who knifed through horses late for second. Madam Cheval (Tim Tetrick) kicked from a second-over trip for third while Nezuko Kamado S settled for fourth.

Vernon Beachy trains Victorianas Secret, a daughter of Tactical Landing-Victoriana, for owner Ryan Smith. The filly won her eighth race from 10 starts this season and her ninth from 18 starts in her career, earning $450,531. She paid $10.38 to win.

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Chiquita Ba-beeman (David Miller) blew up the tote board in the lone $30,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series division for sophomore trotting fillies when she converted a forward-stalking trip in the nightcap to a 1:52 1/5 victory as the second-longest shot on the board. Starting from the pylon post, Miller secured a seat third to the inside and capitalized on an opening at the bottom of the last turn when 6-5 favorite Crossover (Dexter Dunn) broke stride. Miller swung three-wide rounding for home to grab the lead and found the line in time to keep a nose up on fast-closing Decreed (Tim Tetrick), with Naked And Famous (Todd McCarthy) rallying from near last for third. Melissa Essig conditions the winning Gimpanzee-Goldavila F filly, for owners Russell Beeman and Charles Weaver. She returned $192.18 to win.

Numanthia (Marvin Luna, 1:51 3/5 winning mile; $6.06 to win) took top honors with the fastest victory from the three $15,000 divisions of the Kentucky Golden Rod Series for 3-year-old trotting fillies on Wednesday. La Mancha (Tim Tetrick, 1:53; $5.54), a Walner filly out of world champion Manchego, and Concise (Scott Zeron, 1:53; $5.12) took the other divisions.

Early in the card, 9-year-old Logan Shehan of Hopkinsville, Ky., celebrated an exciting milestone when he scored his first victory as an owner. Shehan's interest, 5-year-old Lazarus N gelding The Phantom (Zyler Maxwell), popped off a pocket trip in a $6,300 overnight race to kick clear for a 3 1/4 length win in a 1:55 2/5 mile. The win was also the first on the year for The Phantom, a now six-time winner from 61 starts with $64,203 earned in his career. He paid $10.10 to win.

Live harness racing at The Red Mile resumes on Sunday (Sept. 13) with the $80,000 Kentucky Championship Series fourth preliminary for 3-year-old pacing fillies slated as the headlining event. First-race post time is 5:05 p.m. (EDT).

For more information on the live harness racing season, visit The Red Mile website (https://www.redmileracing.com).

--press release (Red Mile)--