Red Mile: Workin Ona Mystery quickest in Bluegrass action

Workin Ona Mystery, American Mercury, and Bettor's Wish collected victories in the three Bluegrass races for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers on Sunday afternoon at The Red Mile.

In the first $88,800 grouping Semi Tough (Matt Kakaley) fronted the field through panels of 27 1/5, 54 4/5, and 1:21 4/5, but Workin On A Mystery (Tim Tetrick), who had followed the cover of Captain Crunch (Scott Zeron) from second-over, angled out three-wide for the stretch drive and was full of pace, rallying by for a two length decision in 1:48 1/5. Captain Crunch was the runner-up, with Dancin Lou (Dexter Dunn) third.

This was Workin Ona Mystery's first win since his North America Cup elimination back in June, and trainer Brian Brown explained that his charge has been battling health issues most of the time since then.

"It's been a two-month struggle. It's like every time you turn around there was something else wrong. Blood-related, there was some infection. His white count was out of wack, and then it'd knock his red count and his hemoglobin out of wack. Just something all the time with him, and he's finally getting healthy again," said Brown. "Tim's helped with me getting him rigged up. He's much behaving better, and he's more relaxed. Hats off to his groom and Ike Hardiman and Tyler Rush. They've helped me get this horse back going, and his groom Ashley just works on him all day.

"He just got too aggressive, and Tim said just go to an open bridle. We've got his head tied down; when he walks out of the paddock he looks like his head is between his knees. He gets it up as he comes out here. He's helped a major deal to getting the horse back on track."

Diamond Creek Racing, Stambaugh Leeman Stable, Alan Keith, and Wingfield Brothers LLC. own Workin Ona Mystery, a colt by Captaintreacherous. This was his ninth career win, and he has now earned $430,431. He paid $4.60 to win as the 6-5 second choice.

The second $89,800 flight saw Can't Beach That (David Miller) press on to the lead past the 27 second opening quarter, with American Mercury (Tyler Buter) releasing him. American Mercury continued to stalk Can't Beach That through middle-half stations of 55 and 1:23 3/5, then Buter angled the Messenger champion two-wide in the lane. Once he came to the outside, American Mercury exploded, blowing by Can't Beach That en route to a two length win in 1:49. Fabrice Hanover (Yannick Gingras) came on for second, with Can't Beach That fading to third.

A gelding by American Ideal, American Mercury is trained by Chris Oakes and owned by Crawford Farms Racing, Northfork Racing Stable, Chuck Pompey, and Scott Bice. American Mercury made his tenth appearance in the winner's circle, and he now has a bankroll of $631,443. He returned $3.40 to win as the 3-5 favorite.

Bettor's Wish (Dunn) dropped into fourth from post six in the last $88,800 Bluegrass battle and watched as Air Force Hanover (Simon Allard) hit the opening quarter in 26 4/5 before being overtaken by Pyro (Kakaley). Pyro rang up a half in 53 4/5 and was still in the lead at the 1:22 three-quarters, but Bettor's Wish was attacking from first-up at the latter marker and then took the lead past that point. From there Bettor's Wish said goodbye to the field as he drew off to win by four lengths in 1:48 3/5. Air Force Hanover was next, followed by Shake That House (Tetrick).

"He impressed me even this week. I was saying to myself he feels fresh; he doesn't feel tired," said trainer Chris Ryder. "I had a little bit of trouble with him in the stall in detention. He was spinning around, but he's just got so much energy the last two or three weeks that it surprises me. It makes me feel good. He wanted to race. He doesn't like being locked up too much; that's just the way he is."

Bettor's Wish narrowly missed out on multiple wins through the summer that would have allowed his connections to be able to supplement into the Little Brown Jug, but Ryder didn't have any regrets.

"I'm not going to complain. Some things are meant to be, and he was great today. I'm happy with him," he finished.

Ryder also co-owns Bettor's Wish, a Bettor's Delight colt, with partners Bella Racing Ltd., Fair Island Farm Inc., and Bettor's Wish Partners. Bettor's Wish is now a 15-time winner, and he has now pocketed $1,426,000. He paid $2.20 to win as the 1-9 choice.