New Kentucky-Bred 4-Year-Old Series Kicks Off With 3 Track Records
The new 4-Year-Old Kentucky-bred Series, with divisional purses of $50,000 for each leg and finals of $150,000, kicked off Tuesday afternoon with 3 track records.
Horse & Gelding Pace: Goldie’s Legacy equaled the track record of 1:48.4 set earlier in the meet by Surfer Beach. Goldie’s Legacy, son of Always A Virgin out of AG-N-AU Bluegrass, driven by Yannick Gingras paced his first quarter in a blistering :25.0 and led the entire mile to equal the track record. Goldie’s Legacy is trained by Jeff Cullipher, owned by Pollack Racing, LLC and Jeff Cullipher, and bred by Dave Yoder of Kentucky.
Mare Pace: Blue Diamond Eyes, a winner of over $1M at two and three, outpaced her competitors to set a new four-year-old mare pacing track record of 1:49.1 over the fast 5/8s mile surface. Driven by Yannick Gingras, a winner of two of the KY-Bred divisions, Blue Diamond Eyes is trained by Ron Burke, owned by Tom and Scott Dillon and bred by Brittany Farms of Kentucky.
Mare Trot: Beltassima, a daughter of Trixton out of Beltane Hanover, led the entire mile while winning by five lengths in 1:56.1. The victory kicked off her season for owner Crawford Farms while bringing Beltassima’s lifetime earnings to $347,947. Beltassima was driven by Andrew McCarthy, trained by Tony Alagna and bred by D Farm, LLC of Kentucky.
Horse & Gelding Trot: Cuatro De Julio, a son of Trixton out of the Ready Cash mare Clarabelle, set a new track record of 1:51.1 to earn the victory for driver Andrew McCarthy, giving him two of the four winners in leg one of the new 4-year-old series. With career earnings of $586,711, Cuatro De Julio is trained and owned by Marie Ortolan Bar and D Farm, LLC, and bred by D Farm, LLC of Kentucky.
“We are off to a great start with this new series. New opportunities for 4-year-olds will only continue to advance the Kentucky program. The team at Oak Grove continues to do a great job. The next two months of racing leading into The Red Mile will be exciting,” says Bob Brady, Kentucky Harness Association President.
