Oak Grove, KY — In just the second start of her career, Erv Miller trainee Hunterton Born & Sold Dame Frances fired first up on the rim to the last turn and kicked by pacesetter Banana Beach to win the $80,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) final for 2-year-old pacing fillies under wraps in a track-record 1:50.4 mile on Monday (July 13) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel. Leaving from post 6, driver Atlee Bender landed into fourth with 3-5 favorite Dame Frances while Banana Beach (driven by Ronnie Gillespie) grabbed command from an inside draw to a :26.1 first quarter. Gillespie settled on the lead but kept the pace strong to a :55 half as Bender readied his charge for an attack in the backside. Dame Frances edged off the pegs in the backstretch and punched forward to match strides with Banana Beach past three-quarters in 1:23.2 before crisply disposing of that rival in the lane while pulling clear for victory by a widening 3-1/4 lengths under a hand drive. Banana Beach held second from Sweet As Silk (Todd McCarthy) in third with Bordeaux Station (Scott Zeron) rallying from last for fourth. A filly by Pebble Beach -Coronet, Dame Frances remains unbeaten from two starts with $60,000 earned for owners Ervin Miller Stable Inc., Andy Miller Stable Inc., Stepbystep Racing and Bryn Campbell. Her 1:50.4 mile, a lifetime best, lowers the track record for 2-year-old pacing fillies set last year when Caviart Daisy won the KYSS final. She paid $3.44 to win.

Hunterton Bred, Born & Sold Midnight Drive (Dexter Dunn) found a smoother trip off a defeat in last week’s “A” division to score in the $80,000 KYSS final for 2-year-old pacing colts and geldings in a 1:52.4 mile on Monday (July 13) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel. Dunn fired forward out of post 7 and found the pocket after a :27.1 first quarter when odds-on favorite Lone Cypress (Todd McCarthy) looped to the lead as Ballarddrgoldfngr (Archie Buford) chugged up the rim to challenge for the front. Lone Cypress battled with Ballarddrgoldfngr to a :55.3 half and rebuffed that rival passing three-quarters in 1:24. As Ballarddrgoldfngr retreated through the turn, Midnight Drive found clearance to angle outside and laid aim on the leader spinning for home. Midnight Drive reached the front midway down the stretch and held firmly to the finish as Bluebird Beach (Scott Zeron) swooped from near last to take second, beaten a half length. Lone Cypress settled for third and Fenway Station (Atlee Bender) hugged the pylons for fourth. Jamie Sullivan trains Midnight Drive, a 2-year-old colt by Stay Hungry -Turnoffthelights, for owners David Hamm, Glenn Phillips and Frank Chick. He won his second race from three starts, has now earned $75,000 and paid $7.88 to win.

Wilkes-Barre, PA – Two-year-old pacing colts and geldings made their first stakes appearances Monday (July 6) afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, contesting three $30,000 divisions of their Pennsylvania All-Stars event. The Sweet Lou – Captiva Island colt Hunteron Bred, Born & Sold Gobstopper became the only successful stakes winning favorite on Monday when he defeated Hard Four in 1:54.1 for his first winning mile. Gobstopper tailed Hard Four, who came uncovered after early splits of :28.3 and :58.2 before getting a short lead by the 1:26.4 three quarters; the winner then paced his individual last quarter in :27.1 to catch the game first-over by a head. Anthony Napolitano was in the sulky for trainer Michael Deters and owner Rick Berks.

Hollywood Casino at The Meadows welcomed the start of three Stallion Series divisions for 2-year-old trotting fillies. Sitting third through a pedestrian three-quarters in 1:30.4, Dunn moved Honky Tonk Baby to the outside, avoided confusion in the stretch, and the Julie Miller trainee trotted home in :28.4 to capture the third Stallion Series division. Willow Oak Racing LLC of Tennessee bred and owns the daughter of Greenshoe .

Washington, PA — The Friday (June 26) harness racing card at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows gave racing fans a featured attraction in the Currier & Ives Trot for 3-year-old colts and geldings, along with a glimpse of the future in two Pop-Up Series divisions for 2-year-old pacing fillies. Hunterton Bred, Born & Sold Endurance lived up to his name in the $90,675 Currier & Ives for 3-year-old colt trotters, overcoming post 9 in the 10-horse field to establish a stakes record with a 1:52.4 victory.  Unhurried early, Endurance and regular driver Andy McCarthy avoided the brisk early fractions and settled mid-pack. When Hamlet Hall moved first-over, McCarthy followed at the three-eighths, but stalled cover left Endurance three-wide approaching the five-eighths. As the leaders began to tire, Endurance and McCarthy found room along the rail and held off Hamlet Hall to secure the victory. Endurance overcame a wide draw and an overland trip en route to his stakes-record 1:52.4 performance in Friday’s Currier & Ives for sophomore male trotters. Chris Gooden photo. A 3-year-old son of Captain Corey , Endurance now owns nine wins in 12 starts and has earned more than $750,000 for trainer Chris Beaver and owners Super Endurance Stable, Bill Manes, Leo Fleming and Mark Moger.

Yonkers, NY – Add an extra quarter of a mile to the $250,000 Grade 2 MGM Yonkers Trot, and you have a recipe for a wild finish. That proved to be the case on Friday night (June 26) when Inexpressable and driver Tim Tetrick rallied off of a third-over cover trip and charged by the field to capture the opening leg of Trotting’s Triple Crown at MGM Yonkers Raceway. With favored Spencer Hanover starting from the second tier, Requiem, with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. was the first to the front but yielded quickly to AI with Yannick Gingras. Second choice Silverstein then advanced rapidly and secured the front before the :29.1 opening quarter had been reached. The complexion of the race changed on the second turn when Spencer Hanover made a break. With little movement on the outside, Matt Kakaley slowed the fractions, with Silverstein hitting the half and three-quarters in :58.1 and 1:27.2, respectively. With about a half-mile remaining in the mile and one-quarter contest, Dexter Dunn moved Kingmen to the outside and flushed Requiem to gain cover. Tetrick advanced third-over with Inexpressable as the pace picked up. The field hit the 1:56 mile marker with Silverstein still in control and looking strong, and he had control into the stretch. However, he was slowing down noticeably at that point, opening the door for the closers. AI looked to the inside but couldn’t advance. However, Kingmen rallied wide and had plenty of trot to overtake the leader but not enough to stall the Lucas Wallin-trained Inexpressable, who motored on past to a neck victory. Kingmen held second with Silverstein third, followed by AI and fifth-place finisher Nordic Dancer S. The mile and one quarter time was 2:25.3. It was just the third race of the year and second win for Inexpressable, an impeccably-bred son of Walner from the same immediate family as Maryland . Owned by Wallin Racing Stable and Karin Walter-Mommert and a 7-1 offering, Inexpressable paid $16.68 to win. He keyed a $136.32 exacta and a $493.88 trifecta. “Last thing I wanted to do was make a break early,” said Tetrick. “He’s a big, strong colt, and he seems like he’s got big lungs.” Trainer Wallin suggested that Inexpressable would be pointed towards the Stanley Dancer next (July 11 at the Meadowlands). A $325,000 Lexington Selected yearling, Inexpressable is the first foal from the Cantab Hall-sired Ineffable, she a half-sister to 2021 Mohawk Million winner Venerable. In the first of two $55,000 divisions of the Grade 3 New York New York Mile for 3-year-old trotting fillies, the Ake Svanstedt-trained and Jonathan Ahle-driven Busy Miss Lissy S scored impressively, winning virtually wire-to-wire in 1:54.1. A daughter of Calgary Games bred in Sweden, Busy Miss Lissy S won for the first time in three starts as the 9-5 second choice in the field of five. Owned by breeder Panamera Racing, Busy Miss Lissy S returned $5.88 to win with Myths And Legends second and Wishuponastar Deo third. Favored R Ro broke at the outset and was never in contention. Emmas Mystery CCL and Todd McCarthy needed every inch of the stretch but finally went past pace-setter Sparks on the wire to capture the second $55,000 New York New York division. A Muscle Hill -sired filly, Emmas Mystery CCL raced from off-the-pace in third as Sparks led from the outset for Ake Svanstedt. With three-eighths of a mile remaining, McCarthy gave Emmas Mystery CCL her cue, and she forced the action through the final turn and right to the wire, prevailing in a 1:56.3 mile. Sparks was second and Atlantic Summer third.  Winning Key Inc. owns Emmas Mystery CCL and Noel Daley trains the filly who returned $3.14 as the public choice.

Yonkers, NY – Hunterton Bred, Born & Sold Fragment , who was last year’s New York Sire Stakes, Big Apple and Matron winner, rebounded off a third-place finish in the sire stakes most recently at Buffalo to capture the Grade 2 $200,000 MGM Grand Messenger Stakes final for 3-year-old male pacers on Friday night (June 26) at MGM Yonkers Raceway. The Messenger, which was conducted at the distance of a mile and a quarter this year, is the first leg of the Pacing Triple Crown. Driven by Jason Bartlett, Fragment showed speed from post two but allowed a two-wide Al Papi (Yannick Gingras) to clear him going to the :28.1 opening quarter. Al Papi would be unchallenged to the half in :57.1, but an outer tier that included Frantic Hanover (Tim Tetrick), Melillo (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) and Hunt Off The Press (Scott Zeron) formed up as Al Papi raced toward three-quarters in 1:26.2. Al Papi staved off fellow Ron Burke trainee Frantic Hanover to the mile marker in 1:54.1, but Frantic Hanover began to tire on the last turn, and that gave Bartlett and Fragment a path to the outside they needed. Al Papi was game to the wire, but he couldn’t withstand the charge of Fragment, who got up to tally by half a length in 2:21.4. Mighty Matt (Braxten Boyd) held off Melillo for third and Apocalypsebluechip (Todd McCarthy) got up for fifth. “It’s good for the horse. He’s been very special to us the last two years,” Bartlett remarked. “For him to bounce back like that and to beat those type of horses, we’re not surprised. I’m happy that he’s back on track. For him to race like that in Buffalo was really not like him. “This race went kind of went the way we wanted it to. I was going to re-move him, but the pace was enough, so I just kind of sat there. I know he’s a little horse, but for me, on the front, he can get away from me a little bit because he floats over the ground. I was better off in the two-hole, to be honest.” Per Engblom trains Fragment, a Huntsville colt bred by Steve Stewart, Black Creek Farm, Michael Robinson, and South Mountain Stables, for the ownership group of Engblom Farm LLC., Douglas Sipple and Peaceful Acre Farm. He has 11 wins and three seconds from 19 lifetime starts, has earned $758,057 and paid $4.40 to win as the favorite. He keyed a $7.24 exacta and a $35.90 trifecta. “He bled a little bit at Buffalo, so we had to skip the next leg of the sire stakes to get him right. I think we did right by him,” Engblom said. “I didn’t stake him to any of the races this summer on the bigger tracks. I tried to stick on the smaller tracks and hope to have a good fall with him. “He’s got the New York Sire Stakes and the Empire Breeders, and then we’ll aim for the Little Brown Jug and the Breeders Crown.” The companion Grade 3 Park MGM Pace for 3-year-old fillies was split into a pair of $50,000 divisions. In the first flight, Two Twenty Swift (Bartlett), the 4-5 favorite, led through fractions of :27.2, :55 and 1:23.2 while she parked out Existential (Matt Kakaley). The swift tempo and battle made Two Twenty Swift vulnerable in the lane, and pocket-sitter Ideal Beauty Queen (Scott Zeron) took advantage, rallying past Two Twenty Swift to prevail half a length in 1:53.2 at odds of 22-1. Two Twenty Swift held on for the runner-up spot and Bettor Be A Star (Dexter Dunn) had pace in the stretch from second-over to get up for third. A daughter of American Ideal bred by co-owner Rosalia Huff with Jean Durnye, Ideal Beauty Queen is trained by Jake Huff. Ideal Beauty Queen, who is co-owned by Beauty Bridle Rac Stb Inc., won for the fourth time from 16 starts, has now earned $103,566 and paid $47.70 to win. She led a $133.88 exacta and a $231.98 trifecta. The second Park MGM Pace split saw 2-5 choice I’m A Lou Lou (Tim Tetrick) leave from post four and clear Tall Dark Tequila (Tyler Buter) for command before the :27.3 quarter. From there, I’m A Lou Lou kept the top spot to the half in :57 seconds and the three-quarters in 1:25.1 before she closed in :27.3 to prevail by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:52.4. Napalm (Dunn) was second from first-over and Tall Dark Tequila wound up third. By Sweet Lou and bred by Add Inc., I’m A Lou Lou is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC. Knox Services Inc., Larry Karr and Phil Collura. She has a summary of 5-5-2 from 17 tries, has pocketed $328,860 and returned $2.84 to win. She was atop a $6.28 exacta and a $9.76 trifecta.

Oak Grove, KY – One race after the track record for 3-year-old pacing colts at Oak Grove was bested, Chris Ryder trainee Hunterton Born & Sold Show Me Your Ace snatched the title with a 1:49 win going pillar to post in the fourth of four $40,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) divisions for his cohort on the Wednesday (June 24) card.  Leaving from post 6, driver Dexter Dunn dashed Show Me Your Ace for the lead into a :26.1 first quarter to pocket Thiago Hanover (driven by Yannick Gingras) heading for the stretch the first time. Show Me Your Ace then glided through the remainder of the race with a :54 half and 1:21.2 three-quarters to coast in a comfortable winner by 6-3/4 lengths. Vizcaya (Marvin Luna) rallied for second while Thiago Hanover broke stride around the last turn and recovered to hold third. A Bit Of Spirits (Wyatt Avenatti) finished fourth. Ryder co-owns Show Me Your Ace, a colt by American Ideal-Trip Aces Hanover, with partners Anne Demers, Lawrence Minowtiz and Ake Svanstedt. He won his third race from four starts this season and his fifth race from 16 starts in his career, earning $153,272, and paid $4.10 to win.

Oak Grove, KY — Driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Marcus Melander flourished on the 16-race card of racing at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday (June 23) with five wins each on the card stacked with all trotting events and 15 divisions of Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS). Top honors on the day’s KYSS action went to the team of Dunn and Melander with Hunterton Born & Sold Zephyr Kemp , who posted the fastest mile of the afternoon’s KYSS action with a 1:53.1 victory in the second of three divisions for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings. Dunn had an easy time crossing from post 7 to the lead through a :28 first quarter over pocket Maga Hill (driven by Yannick Gingras) and coasted through fractions of :56.3 and 1:25.2 to register an easy win by 2-1/4 lengths. Maga Hill settled for second with Stormy Seas (Marvin Luna) third and Castro (Atlee Bender) another 5 lengths behind in fourth. A colt by Calgary Games-Southwind Adele, Zephyr Kemp competes for owners Kemppi Stables Oy Inc., Suojalampi Stable Inc., PCW Racing LLC and Sjoeblom Racing Inc. The colt won his first race from four starts this season and his fourth race from 14 starts in his career, earning $132,150. He paid $11.88 to win. Dunn and Melander also tied for the fastest win of the four KYSS divisions for 3-year-old trotting fillies when Crossover (1:53.1 winning mile; $10.20 to win) pulled pocket to upset 1-9 favorite Naked And Famous. Crossover converted from a stalking trip off splits of :28.2, :56.2 and 1:25.1 to pounce and score by 1-1/2 lengths over Naked And Famous with Panzee Party (Yannick Gingras) chasing another 6 lengths behind in third and Vicenza (Jason Bartlett) giving pursuit in fourth. The daughter of Gimpanzee -Piranha Fury is owned by S R F Stable and won her fourth race from 11 starts, pushing her career bankroll to $70,418.