Oak Grove countdown begins for $1.5million day

OAK GROVE, Ky. — A pair of Open Paces and an Open Trot headline the Sunday (May 10) and Monday (May 11) cards of racing at Oak Grove, respectively, as anticipation continues to build for the $1.5-million day of harness racing that caps the week and the 2026 Festival of Racing on Preakness Saturday (May 16).

The $30,000 Open Pace on Sunday, carded as Race 5, gathers a full field of nine to payoff the 20-cent Early Pick 5. Fusion, who will compete in a $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes final this upcoming Saturday, will get another Oak Grove mile under his belt after having to scratch from the second preliminary of the Sire Stakes series. Dexter Dunn comes to town to steer the Brett Pelling pupil, listed as the morning line favorite at 5-2, out of post 7 against a familiar Oak Grove invader in Oakwood Heymiki IR, labeled the 3-1 second choice. Matt Krueger pilots Oakwood Heymiki IR, who finished runner-up with a furious rally in his last Oak Grove appearance on April 6, out of post 4 for trainer Bob Cleary. The stacked field also includes Hazardos (driven by Brandon Bates, post 6, 8-1), who finished runner-up in last week’s Open, frequent Oak Grove top-class victors Tip Top Cat (Devon Tharps, post 2, 9-2) and Admiral Hill (Atlee Bender, post 9, 8-1) as well as an invader from the MGM Borgata Series in Why Not Now (Josert Fonseca, post 5, 6-1).

Another Brett Pelling trainee looks to ready for a Kentucky Sire Stakes final in the co-featured $30,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace, carded as Race 8 on Sunday. Dexter Dunn also comes in for the drive on Three Times Bettor, who scorched the Oak Grove oval in her seasonal debut with a 1:49.1 effort in the opening Sire Stakes preliminary. Listed as the 7-5 morning line favorite, Three Times Bettor starts from post 6, one slot wide of defending Open champ Yankee B Something (Geremy Bobbitt, post 5, 7-2), in the six-horse field.

The 14-race card on Monday features a $30,000 Open Handicap Trot as the highlight of the day, carded as Race 6. Cecil Hanover (Devon Tharps, post 7, 2-1) will look to return to winning ways at the top class as will Little Expensive (Tyler Miller, post 5, 5-2) after they succumbed to wicked speed a few weeks ago uncorked by Jean Dubois’s Euro import Jigger DK in a 1:51.1 mile. Dp Freedoms Chrome (Marcus Miller, post 6, 4-1) will try to continue on his trail of improvement after finishing runner-up in the crazy fast mile and Tom’s Muscle (Josert Fonseca, post 4, 5-1) will look to keep progressing as well from his fourth-place finish in the last Open. The Open Trot also attracts a single mare in former Kentucky Sire Stakes champion Woman Of Passion (Marvin Luna, post 3, 8-1).

Sunday’s 13-race card also includes corgi races between the day’s harness racing action. The pair of race days continue the $2.75 million Festival of Racing at Oak Grove that will soon climax with the special card of racing on Preakness Saturday starting at 12:45 p.m. (CDT). The 11-race card features four $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes finals as well as the finals for the $300,000 Oak Grove Trotting Oaks and $500,000 Oak Grove Trotting Derby. And, in conjunction with the USTA’s Strategic Wagering program, the Saturday card of racing will feature a $20,000 guarantee on the $1 Pick 4 that starts in Race 8 on that day.

First-race post time on Sunday at Oak Grove is 1:10 p.m. (CDT). For more information on racing at Oak Grove, including free past performance pages and race-by-race analysis from Ray Cotolo, visit oakgrovegaming.com. And to book your VIP experience for Oak Grove Derby Day, visit oakgrovederby.com.

 

From Oak Grove Racing