Cleveland Darby chases fifth straight victory

LEXINGTON, Ky.— Ron Burke trainee Cleveland Darby, who swept the Ohio Triple Crown with wins in the Ohio State Fair, Ohio Sires Stakes Championship and the Ohio Breeders Championship, looks for five harness racing wins in a row when she comes to The Red Mile to compete in the $163,000 Grade 3 International Stallion Stakes for 2-year-old pacing fillies—sponsored by The Cuddy Farms—on Thursday (Oct. 8).

The Downbytheseaside-Loreenas Ruffian filly, making her a half sister to millionaire stakes winner Women Layer, enters from a 1:53.2 effort in the $71,650 Ohio Breeders Championship during Little Brown Jug week in Delaware, Ohio. Chris Page retains the driving assignment out of post 2 on the 9-5 morning line favorite and faces nine other rivals including Holy (driven by Todd McCarthy, post 3, 6-1 morning line), who went pillar to post in a Grade 3 Bluegrass Stakes division last Thursday (Oct. 1) with a 1:51.3 effort. JK Alwaysbpositive (Tim Tetrick, post 5, 9-2), runner-up in the Kentucky Golden Rod Series final and runner-up in the faster Bluegrass Stakes division last week won by Seaside Ubeaut, will also go to the gate in Race 3 on the 12-race card.

Freshman trotting colts and geldings compete in their first of two $135,500 divisions of the International Stallion Stakes in Race 9 on the day, sponsored by the Greenshoe Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farms. Ake Svanstedt sends morning line chalk Red Storm Hanover (post 2, 5-2) in the eight-horse affair from a fourth-place finish in a Bluegrass division last week. The field also includes Nights In Miami (Marvin Luna, post 1, 8-1), who finished runner-up in a Bluegrass dash to Hambletonian winner Apex’s half brother in Command Center, as well as Grade 3 Madison County winner The Reason (Yannick Gingras, post 4, 6-1) and a pair from trainer Marcus Melander with Free Scottie (Mattias Melander, post 7, 9-2) and Gagosian (Dexter Dunn, post 8, 6-1).

Kentucky Championship Series winner Whateverittakes As (Tony Hall, post 8, 9-5) will have to overcome the outermost draw in the other division of the International Stallion Stakes for 2-year-old trotting males, sponsored by the Burke Racing Stable. The Anette Lorentzon-trained son of Walner lost by a nose in a gutsy first-over gambit against Ake Svanstedt pupil Yankee Boss in a 1:52 mile in a Bluegrass division last week. His competition includes another Svanstedt trainee in Easy Down Blonde (Tim Tetrick, post 6, 5-2), runner-up to Mohawk Million winner Wrong Sounds Right in the $250,000 New Jersey Classic final and entering from a break in stride in the Bluegrass, along with a pair of third-place finishers from Bluegrass Stakes in Canadian invader Mahalo (Scott Zeron, post 2, 6-1) and $100,000 Kentucky Commonwealth Series final winner End Result (Dexter Dunn, post 3, 9-2).

Thursday’s card also features a $6,063.81 carryover in the 20-cent Super High 5, which is offered in Race 5 and has a takeout of 15 percent. First-race post time is 1 p.m. (EDT).

For more information on the 2026 live harness racing season, visit The Red Mile website (https://www.redmileracing.com).

by Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile