LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) Marion Marauder will try to complete the Trotting Triple Crown from post No. 11 when he faces 11 rivals Sunday in the $431,000 Kentucky Futurity for 3-year-old trotters at the Red Mile.
The Kentucky Futurity is the final jewel in the Trotting Triple Crown, following the Hambletonian and Yonkers Trot. Marauder, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, is attempting to become the ninth trotter to win the Triple Crown and first since Glidemaster in 2006.
Marion Marauder has won nine of 12 races this year and earned $1.25 million. He's trained by the wife-and-husband team of Paula Wellwood and Mike Keeling. The colt is co-owned by son Devin Keeling and Wellwood's mother, Jean.
Scott Zeron will drive Marion Marauder. The 27-year-old would become the youngest driver to win a Triple Crown, either trotting or pacing, in harness racing history.
''I'm grateful to just have a horse like him to take me on this kind of trip,'' Zeron said.
The Kentucky Futurity field includes Southwind Frank (No., 5, 3-1 odds), second by a nose to Marion Marauder in the Hambletonian, and Bar Hopping (No. 12, 4-1 odds), who has won three consecutive races including the Canadian Trotting Classic by 3 1/2 lengths over Marion Marauder on Sept. 17.
