Oak Grove: Kentucky Sire Stakes cavalcade to conclude 2026 meet

The record-breaking 2026 live harness racing season for Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel draws to a close this week with three days of racing starting on Monday (July 13) and eight total Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) finals through the week.

Monday's card features six total divisions of KYSS, including two $80,000 finals for pacing freshmen, as well as five $30,000 maiden races for Kentucky-bred 2-year-olds. The colts and geldings spar in their "A" division in Race 12 on the 17-race marathon card that starts at 10:55 a.m. (CDT), and the final features a rematch between the Jamie Sullivan-trained pair Miki's Big Bang (driven by Tim Tetrick, post eight, 3-1 morning line), who upset in the KYSS "A" division last week, and runner-up Midnight Drive (Dexter Dunn, post seven, 5/2). The eight-horse contest also attracts three elevating from last week's KYSS "B" division with Fenway Station (Atlee Bender, post one, 8-1), Lone Cypress (Todd McCarthy, post two, 5-1) and Bluebird Beach (Scott Zeron, post four, 6-1).

Ronnie Gillespie's precocious and speedy Banana Beach (Ronnie Gillespie, post two, 8/5) eyes a sweep of KYSS events at Oak Grove in the $80,000 final for 2-year-old pacing fillies, carded as Race 14. Banana Beach thwarted Petter Engblom trainee Lindy Believer (Yannick Gingras, post eight, 8-1) for the second week in a row but in a softer 1:52 4/5 mile and now finds post relief while facing her toughest test to date as she also is confronted by a pair exiting wins in the "B" division in Sweet As Silk (Todd McCarthy, post one, 5-1) and Dame Frances (Atlee Bender, post six, 2-1); the latter of which uncorked a 55 second back-half under wraps to deliver as the odds-on favorite in her debut.

Tuesday at the Trots (July 14) features 13 total divisions of KYSS including four $80,000 "A" division finals. Two-year-old trotting fillies kick off the top-class action in Race 9 where Merry Zee (Dexter Dunn, post two, 2-1) will look to build from her 1:56 1/5 win in last week's "A" division over a trip-stifled Redice (Atlee Bender, post eight, 7/2) in the deep field of eight. The morning-line favorite also acquires a new pilot in Dexter Dunn since Yannick Gingras opted to drive "B" division winner Heart Of Secret (post three, 4-1) off her 1:56 2/5 debut victory last week. She starts just inside of another "B" division winner in Green Ballet (Andy McCarthy, post four, 6-1), who pulled a 9-1 upset with a 1:57 2/5 victory on debut.

Delivery Boy (Dewayne Minor, post four, 5-1) and Carbon Fiber (Yannick Gingras, post five, 3-1) eye revenge in the $80,000 KYSS final for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings, carded as Race 10, after being foiled from a first-up push in the last turn by Special Day (Andy McCarthy, post eight, 5/2) in last week's "A" division. Delivery Boy, after racing wide through the first three-eighths of a mile, finished second to Special Day following his 1:56 4/5 victory on pari-mutuel debut while Carbon Fiber settled for third after winning by over 10 lengths on debut in a 1:56 1/5 mile. The three are joined by a pair of "B" division ascenders in Back Country (Tim Tetrick, post three, 8-1) and Octavius (Scott Zeron, post seven, 6-1) in the eight-horse field.

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Trainer Marcus Melander sends a four-pronged attack into the $80,000 KYSS final for sophomore trotting males in the following race. Melander's frontline is led by morning-line chalk Zephyr Kemp (Dexter Dunn, post four, 2-1), who eyes a sweep of KYSS events off a simple 1:53 2/5 mile last week. The Melander contingent also includes Midwind Chimp (Scott Zeron, post two, 8-1), Nealon (Andy McCarthy, post five, 12-1) and Never Say Die (Todd McCarthy, post eight, 12-1). Joe Bongiorno also trains a winning pair from the "B" divisions in Zidane Kemp (Tim Tetrick, post three, 6-1) and King Of The Wind (Yannick Gingras, post six, 6-1) while the rest of the field is composed of "A" division runner-up Onemorenkickmeout (Atlee Bender, post seven, 7/2) and Lucas Wallin's undefeated royal blood Kaizen (Markus Niklasson, post one, 5-1), who posted the fastest mile of last week's Tuesday at the Trots with a 1:52 4/5 win with the whip tucked.

Sophomore trotting fillies compete in their $80,000 KYSS final in Race 13 on Tuesday with Crossover (Dexter Dunn, post five, 2-1) looking for a sweep following back-to-back strong rallies to victory. She meets with four fillies elevating from wins in the "B" division in Coreys Love (Joey Putnam, post one, 12-1), Degas (Yannick Gingras, post four, 7/2), Country Glide (Andy McCarthy, post six, 6-1) and Calyx (Todd McCarthy, post eight, 8-1) while top finishers from the "A" division Heart For Two (Scott Zeron, post seven, 5-1) and Avenzee (Tim Tetrick, post three, 12-1) also compete.

Closing day of the 2026 meet on Wednesday (July 15) features seven total KYSS divisions with a pair of $80,000 finals for pacing sophomores. The fillies fight in Race 6 with Hope Hill (Dexter Dunn, post two, 2-1) stamping herself the head of the cohort off a track-record 1:49 1/5 win in last week's "A" division. Runner-up Caviart Daisy (Scott Zeron, post eight, 4-1) contends with an outside post in the race that also attracts three out of the "B" divisions in Gonebutnotforgottn (Tim Tetrick, post five, 6-1) and a pair or "B" division runner-ups in Carry Back (Atlee Bender, post one, 12-1) and Papi Robin (Andy McCarthy, post seven, 8-1).

The $80,000 KYSS final for pacing glamour boys pins Funky Buddha (Tim Tetrick, post two, 5/2) against Show Me Your Ace (Dexter Dunn, post one, 7/2) after the two hooked into one of the fiercest battles seen this season at Oak Grove. Funky Buddha, never seeing a pylon while pressing the leader through a 26 4/5 and 54 1/5 early clip, overpowered the odds-on favorite as he retreated in the backstretch and stayed strong through a 1:21 3/5 three-quarters to win in a 1:49 3/5 mile, just three-fifths of a second slower than the track record Show Me Your Ace posted in the first KYSS event. Show Me Your Ace will look to rebound from a well-beaten eighth in the stiff contest that also lures Fire Run (Marvin Luna, post three, 12-1, Sea Bistro Hanover (Todd McCarthy, post five, 8-1) and Benny B Hill (Scott Zeron, post six, 8-1) from the "B" divisions.

First-race post time each race day for closing week is 10:55 a.m. (CDT). Monday and Tuesday's cards feature three Pick 4 and Pick 5 sequences. Both bets are offered at a one-dollar minimum and have a takeout of just 15 percent. And because Wednesday is closing day of the 2026 meet, all multi-race pools will offer mandatory payouts. For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com.

--press release (Oak Grove)--