Sassie Kassie a fair circuit frontrunner for Lambright family

by James Platz

The Indiana fair circuit is in full swing, and with more than a month in the books, several trotters and pacers have emerged as leaders in their respective divisions. Sassie Kassie has emerged as one of the top freshman pacing fillies on the scene, now four-for-four on the season for the husband-and-wife team of Kevin and Kassie Lambright. She is positioned as one of the top contenders in the Governor’s Cup championships, slated for next month.

“If she’s on the front, when a horse comes at her, she fights them off,” said Kevin, who has steered her to each of her four seasonal wins. “I like her grittiness.”

So far, Sassie Kassie has not found herself in many close battles at the wire. Instead, her victories have been of the open lengths variety. In her debut at Converse on June 10, the Capt Midnight—Hedges Avenue A filly paced home in :28.4 to win by 2½ lengths in a time of 1:59. Moving next to Harrah’s Hoosier Park, the freshman distanced the field by four lengths with a 1:56.1 effort. Racing July 2 at Frankfort, Sassie Kassie and her pilot endured their toughest test, but still managed to reach the wire nearly two lengths in front. Earlier this week at Shelbyville, the winning margin was seven lengths.

Through six rounds of fair circuit action, Sassie Kassie is tied with Bella Notte atop the division, each with four wins and 204 points accumulated. The season, to date, is impressive considering the filly was nearly turned out earlier this year.

“Early on I really didn’t think she was going to make it because she was so sore, and that’s why I staked her just to the fairs,” Kevin said. “But she kind of surprised me and she’s doing pretty good for us right now. I had to blister her a little bit, and I gave her a couple of weeks off right when all the payments were due. That’s why I just made the fair payments. After I gave her those couple of weeks off, she came back pretty good.”

Sassie Kassie was not purchased out of a yearling sale. The Lambrights had a chance to acquire her privately due to Kassie’s connection to the filly’s dam. Her father was part of the group that imported the mare from Australia.

“An agent had brought ‘Hedge’ to my dad and his owner, and they just decided that they really liked her,” Kassie said. “We had some luck with overseas horses. We had a couple good ones, but Hedge was just the consistent money earner. I fell in love with her, she was just a gritty, gritty old mare.”

Racing down under, Hedges Avenue A was a 12-time winner. The Rock N Roll Heaven mare competed in Australia from ages 3 through 6 before arriving in the United States. She added another 15 wins racing primarily at The Meadows, taking a 1:52.2 mark. When her racing career was complete, breeder Freeman Bontrager purchased Hedges Avenue A. He gave Kassie first option on purchasing the mare’s first foal.

“She had set all these records on bull ring tracks, all half-mile tracks down in Australia,” she said of the mare. “I had told Kevin that I was hoping that ‘Sassie’ would be like that, just be able to get around the fair track. Hedge was a really big mare and she could still get around those small tracks.”

Sassie Kassie has proven she can do just that. And, according to her owner and trainer, the filly is strikingly similar to the dam.

“They look alike,” she said. “They’re identical. I just loved Hedge and I was excited to have her filly. They’re so sweet. They can sometimes flip a switch and, you know, have a little attitude, but for the most part, they’re the sweetest things to be around. She’s a family horse. Our son loves her and they’re so close.”

Sassie Kassie has already earned back her purchase price. The Lambrights plan to race her lightly this season, in hopes of having a nice 3-year-old next season. After racing, Kassie plans to breed the filly.

“We have property and I already have a retired racehorse out in the field,” she said. “She’s got a forever home. She’s a family pet.”