Oak Grove: Hope Hill lowers track record in Kentucky Sire Stakes triumph

Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee Hope Hill out-footed the surrounding early speed to take the lead and cruise on the muscle to a track-record 1:49 1/5 victory in the $80,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) "A" division for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday afternoon (July 8) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel.

Leaving from post three, driver Dexter Dunn hustled Hope Hill to the lead through a 26 2/5 first quarter to pocket Caviart Daisy (driven by Scott Zeron) and then hit the brakes slightly moving for a 54 4/5 half. Interstellar (Marvin Luna) angled off the pylons from fourth to lay a mild first-up attack since Hope Hill smoothly accelerated for three-quarters in 1:22 and kept chugging through the remainder. She crossed the beam 1 1/4 lengths better than Caviart Daisy with Interstellar chasing in third and Gala (Todd McCarthy) levelling off from a second-over trip for fourth.

A Papi Rob Hanover-Ruth Hill filly, Hope Hill won her fourth race from six starts this season and her eighth race from 15 starts in her career, earning $190,655 for owner-breeder Tom Hill. She snapped the previous track record for 3-year-old pacing fillies of 1:49 4/5 set in 2023 by Charleston and matched last season by Unreasonable, paying $4.42 to win in the process.

Funky Buddha (Tim Tetrick) posted arguably the most game mile of the meet at Oak Grove when never relenting in his first-over challenge against odds-on leader Show Me Your Ace (Dexter Dunn) to then hold firmly for the win at odds of 10-1 in a 1:49 3/5 mile in the companion $80,000 event for sophomore male pacers.

Tetrick charged out of post seven with the Tony Dinges trainee and was forced to push forward after leader Show Me Your Ace with Captain Apple (Yannick Gingras) and Louaville (Scott Zeron) sealing any vacancies at the pylons. Funky Buddha raced at Show Me Your Ace's throat to a 26 4/5 first quarter and through a 54 1/5 half before the favorite retreated midway up the backstretch, at which point Funky Buddha faced a late bid from Papi Rick (Andy McCarthy), who was rolling from mid-pack. Past three-quarters in 1:21 3/5, Funky Buddha dug in against the late flanking onslaught for a head victory at the line, with Captain Apple skimming through a seam at the pylons for second and Papi Rick settling for third. Prince Willie (Joey Putnam) rallied from last for fourth.

A Sweet Lou-The Double Deuce colt, Funky Buddha won his second race from five starts and his fifth race from 15 starts in his career, earning $203,840 for owner Rick Berks. He paid $22.18 to win.

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Trainer Brett Pelling teamed up with driver Todd McCarthy to register a hat trick on the card with three wins inside of the six $40,000 KYSS "B" divisions on the card. They prevailed with the colt Sea Bistro Hanover (1:50 3/5 winning mile; $4.40 to win), as well as a pair of fillies in Gracious (1:52; $3.30) and Sunny Station (1:50 2/5; $3.08). Gonebutnotforgottn (Tim Tetrick, 1:50 1/5; $6.72) won in the other "B" division for sophomore pacing fillies, while Benny B Hill (Dexter Dunn, 1:50 4/5; $7.04) and Fire Run (Marvin Luna, 1:50 3/5; $45.30) scored in the other dashes for sophomore pacing males.

After the day's KYSS action, Little Expensive (Tyler Miller, 1:52; $27.28) pulled an upset in the undercard feature, the $40,000 Open Handicap Trot. Miller worked a pocket trip behind Platinum As (Yannick Gingras) through a clip of 27 2/5, 55 4/5 and 1:23 3/5 before pouncing to score by 1 1/4 lengths with The Rogue Prince (Markus Niklasson) rallying from a ground-saving trip for second. Platinum As settled for third and 3-5 favorite Jigger DK (Todd McCarthy) closed mildly for fourth. Julie Miller trains Little Expensive, a 6-year-old Muscle Hill-Seviyorum gelding, for owners Andy Miller Stable, Jean Goehlen and VIP Internet Stable LLC. He won his fourth race from nine starts this season and his 22nd race from 71 starts in his career, earning $448,046.

Live racing at Oak Grove returns for closing week of the 2026 harness racing season on Monday (July 13) with a 15-race card featuring a pair of $80,000 KYSS finals for pacing 2-year-olds. First-race post time is 10:55 a.m. (CDT). For more information visit oakgrovegaming.com.

--press release (Oak Grove)--