Last year’s Dan Patch Champion Special Way 3,1:51.2 ($887,475), bred by Brittany Farms, made a triumphant return to the racetrack, winning her $80,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Division 3-Year-Old Filly Trot at the Red Mile on Labor Day.

 

And on the day prior in Lexington, two horses bred and raised by Brittany and sold as yearlings last fall won KYSS events. Gifted One p,2,1:52.4 ($84,000) won the $80,000 KYSS Championship Division for 2-year-old filly pacers and Bright Star 2, 1:54.3 ($33,600) the $30,000 KYSS Commonwealth Division for 2YO colt trotters.

 

Special Way, the shining star of the weekend, won seven of nine starts last year at 2, including the Breeders Crown, and was the year’s richest and fastest 2-year-old filly trotter, with a mark of 2,1:52 and earnings of $697,475.

 

She started her sophomore campaign in much the same fashion, winning her first three seasonal starts in two legs and the $240,000 final of the New Jersey Sire Stakes at the Meadowlands, which she won in season’s record time of 1:51.4.

 

Plans were on track for her to race in the upcoming Hambletonian or Oaks and other Grand Circuit stakes, until she was sidelined by a bone infection. After patient rehab, her trainer Ake Svanstedt declared “She's back," and she handily won a qualifier at Pocono on Aug. 23 in 1:53.3 to prove the point.

 

The daughter of Walner-Special Hill, owned by Brittany and partners Al Libfeld and Marvin Katz, will now head to the $400,000 KYSS Championship Final on Sept. 17 in hopes of becoming the 46th million dollar-plus winner bred by Brittany Farms.

 

The 2-year-olds above will also head to their respective six-figure finals, and Brittany wishes the very best of luck to their connections.

 

Gifted One, by Captaintreacherous-Creative Power, is owned by Robert Leblanc, Joe Sbrocco, Brad Grant and Pryde & JAF Racing. Bright Star, by Muscle Hill-Morningstar, is owned by Pryde Stables Inc., Caviart Farms, Brittany Farms, Plouffe and Riverview. Both are part of trainer Tony Alagna’s “Alagna Armada.”