Magnificent seven for Atlee Bender

OAK GROVE, Ky. — After a record-breaking day of betting to open the 2026 Festival of Racing at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel, driver Atlee Bender strung together an impressive day on Tuesday (May 5) to find the winner’s circle seven times, besting the previous record of six wins in a day by Todd McCarthy set last year.

Bender, who is seeking to reclaim the driving title at Oak Grove after finishing a narrow second last year to Marvin Luna, made his first visit to the winner’s circle in Race 3 after piloting Granite Ridge Lady ($5.82 to win) to a 1:56.1 victory in a $10,000 conditioned pace.

A few races later, he stormed clear of his competition for a 5-1/2-length victory by James In Charge A ($4.54) in a 1:52.2 mile to win a $14,000 conditioned pace. Bender then went on a tear in the second half of the card, winning all but one of the last six races on the day. He landed a natural hat trick with D A Wicked Shine ($9.06), International Law ($5) and Miss Fancy Nancy ($3.02) and scored back-to-back wins in the final two races with Strangerinthenight ($4.60) and Tickled To Tears ($11.60). With a driving assignment in every one of the 14 races on Tuesday, Bender hit the board in 11 and finished no worse than fourth in 13 drives.

TICKLED TO TEARS REPLAY

Marcus Miller, Bender’s brother-in-law, also had a good day on Tuesday with three driving wins total including a 1:50.3 victory in the $20,000 featured pace behind Todd Luther trainee Swaggy Cal. Miller sat a pocket trip behind Universal (driven by Atlee Bender) through a quick tempo of :26.3, :55.1 and 1:22.1 before pouncing out of the pocket and spurting clear for a 4-1/4-length win. Great Seats (Wyatt Avenatti) took second while Universal tired to third and Serious Miki (Joey Putnam), the 6-5 favorite, closed for fourth.

A 5-year-old gelding by Rockin Image-Pristine Beauty, Swaggy Cal won his second race from 11 starts this season and his 12^th race from 52 starts in his career, earning $232,202 for owner Greg Luther Racing LLC. He paid $7.48 to win.

Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Sunday (May 10) with a special Mother’s Day card featuring corgi races at the track. Oak Grove will host harness racing on Monday (May 11) and then return for the $1.5-million day of racing on Preakness Saturday (May 16) at a special post time of 12:45 p.m. (CDT).

First-race post time at Oak Grove on Sunday is 1:10 p.m. (CDT). For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com. And to book your VIP experience for Oak Grove Trotting Derby Day, visit oakgrovederby.com.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From Oak Grove Racing