The Kentucky Championship Series concluded on Sunday night, Sept. 15, at The Red Mile, with eight $540,541 finals delivering exciting finishes.
Louprint, the favourite, narrowly missed breaking Sippinonsearoc's world record for freshman pacers by just two-fifths of a second. He claimed victory in the two-year-old colt pace final, overtaking his stablemate by three-quarters of a length in 1:48.4, with American Son finishing third. Driven by Ronnie Wrenn Jr., Louprint—a Sweet Lou-Rockin Racer colt—secured the win for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, and Phillip Collura. Louprint has won six out of seven starts, with his only loss coming against Sippinonsearoc earlier in the series.
In a stunning upset, Dame Good Time and driver Scott Zeron edged out the streaking Hambletonian winner Karl by a neck, clocking a career-best 1:50.2. The two exchanged leads through the early stages of the race before Dame Good Time surged ahead at the pylons to steal the win. Trained by Travis Alexander for owner John Cummins, Dame Good Time was sent off at 17-1 odds, similar to his surprise Zweig win earlier this season.
Dexter Dunn showcased his talent, collecting three championship victories, two of which came with trotters trained by Marcus Melander. The wins included the two-year-old trotting colt Super Chapter, who set a lifetime best of 1:52.1, and three-year-old trotting filly Date Night Hanover, who defended her title with a 1:50.1 finish. Jeffrey Snyder co-owns Super Chapter with Arthur Pronti, while Date Night Hanover is owned by Onda Racing Stable.
Two-year-old pacing filly Miki And Minnie proved her mettle, winning her division as the favourite with a career-best 1:49.4. Trained by Chris Ryder, she has placed no worse than second in seven starts. The filly is owned by Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo, and Lawrence Minowitz.
Todd McCarthy added two wins to his tally, including a thrilling victory with Direction, a three-year-old filly trained by Brett Pelling. Direction held off Geocentric for a new lifetime mark of 1:50, with Asweetbeachhere and Its A Love Thing trailing. McCarthy also drove Aperfect Annie to victory in the two-year-old trotting filly championship, winning at 29-1 odds with a career-best 1:53. Trainer Carter Pinske oversaw the filly's win for Pinske Stables, Melvin Hartman, and Andray Farm.
Defending champion Better Is Nice became harness racing’s newest millionaire by winning the three-year-old colt pace. He surged from the pocket in a career-best 1:48, with a :25.4 final quarter that left him 2-3/4 lengths ahead of Women Layer. Driven by Andrew McCarthy, Better Is Nice is trained by Tony Alagna and co-owned by Pryde Stables Inc. and Birnam Wood Farms.
The night also featured the Commonwealth Series finals, with driver Yannick Gingras sweeping both divisional championships for trotting fillies. He guided two-year-old Deja Blu to victory in 1:53.2 for trainer Nancy Takter and won with three-year-old Star Attraction in 1:52.2 for Ake Svanstedt's stable.