Oak Grove: Kentucky Sire Stakes five-baggers for Dunn, Melander

Driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Marcus Melander flourished on the 16-race card of racing at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday (June 23) with five wins each on the card stacked with all trotting events and 15 divisions of Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS).

Top honor on the day's KYSS action went to the team of Dunn and Melander with Zephyr Kemp, who posted the fastest mile of the afternoon's KYSS action with a 1:53 1/5 victory in the second of three divisions for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings. Dunn had an easy time crossing from post seven to the lead through a 28 second first quarter to pocket Maga Hill (driven by Yannick Gingras) and coasted through fractions of 56 3/5 and 1:25 2/5 to register an easy win by 2 1/4 lengths. Maga Hill settled for second with Stormy Seas (Marvin Luna) third and Castro (Atlee Bender) another five lengths behind in fourth.

A colt by Calgary Games-Southwind Adele, Zephyr Kemp competes for owners Kemppi Stables Oy Inc., Suojalampi Stable Inc., PCW Racing LLC. and Sjoeblom Racing Inc. The colt won his first race from four starts this season and his fourth race from 14 starts in his career, earning $132,150. He paid $11.88 to win.

Dunn and Melander also tied for the fastest win of the four KYSS divisions for 3-year-old trotting fillies when Crossover (1:53 1/5 winning mile; $10.20 to win) pulled pocket to upset 1-9 favorite Naked And Famous. Crossover converted from a stalking trip off splits of 28 2/5, 56 2/5 and 1:25 1/5 to pounce and score by 1 1/2 lengths over Naked And Famous with Panzee Party (Yannick Gingras) chasing another six lengths behind in third and Vicenza (Jason Bartlett) giving pursuit in fourth. The daughter of Gimpanzee-Piranha Fury is owned by S R F Stable and won her fourth race from 11 starts, pushing her career bankroll to $70,418.

The tandem of Dunn and Melander teamed for two more wins with Never Say Die (1:54 2/5; $3.42) in the first KYSS division for 3-year-old trotting males and later with Oddsologist (1:58 4/5; $4.56) in the last of four divisions for freshman trotting males. They each scored independent wins to total five on the day with Dunn guiding Carter Pinske pupil Decreed (1:54 3/5; $3.06) to victory in the third KYSS division for sophomore trotting fillies and Marcus Melander sending Nealon (Mattias Melander, 1:54 3/5; $21.44) to a victory in the third division for sophomore trotting males.

Carbon Fiber (Yannick Gingras) led all trotting rookies with a powerful brush to an 11 3/4 length win in a 1:56 1/5 mile, the fastest on the day for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings. Gingras landed in fifth from an early scramble for the lead and got underway up the rim with the Ron Burke trainee past a 57 4/5 half to reel in his peers and stride away effortlessly over Kaws (Scott Zeron) closing for second. Frozen Fortune (Todd McCarthy) finished third and Boitano (Anthony MacDonald) settled for fourth. The Gimpanzee-Burnella colt competes for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Phil Collura, Knox Services Inc. and Frank Baldachino. He paid $2.90 to win.

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Erv Miller trainee Redice (Atlee Bender) uncorked the quickest mile among the 2-year-old trotting fillies with a 1:56 3/5 jog in the first division for their cohort. Bender eased to the top out of post 6 and held a steady lead through sensible fractions of 29 4/5, 59 3/5 and 1:28 4/5 in progress to a seven length romp over Shanavalley (Dexter Dunn) and Solo Santa Maria (Junior Guelpa). The daughter of Rebuff-Fuzzy Dice competes for owners Ervin Miller Stable Inc., Anthony Lombardi and Stepbystep Racing. She paid $3.20 to win.

Other winners from the divisions for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings included Delivery Boy (Dewayne Minor, 1:56 4/5; $5.70) and Special Day (Andy McCarthy, 1:57 2/5; $4.92). Secret Temptation (Andy McCarthy, 1:58; $8), Carly P (Todd McCarthy, 1:59; $77.54) and Kissme Ifyoucan (Austin Hanners, 1:57 3/5; $7.22) won in the other KYSS divisions for 2-year-old trotting fillies. Avenzee (Tim Tetrick, 1:54 4/5; $16.16) also won on the day in the second of four KYSS dashes for 3-year-old trotting fillies.

Amid all the state-bred action, Jigger DK (Todd McCarthy, 1:51 4/5; $3.30) ripped from off the speed to collar loose leader Platinum As (Yannick Gingras) in the final strides while under wraps to win the $36,000 Open Handicap Trot. Carter Pinske trains the 6-year-old gelding by Fabulous Wood-Little Jigger for owners Mark Robinson and Makenna Pinske. The gelding notched his third win stateside from five starts while pushing his career earnings to $219,277.

Live racing at Oak Grove resumes with a special day of racing on Wednesday (June 24) that features seven total $40,000 divisions of KYSS for pacing 3-year-olds on the 14-race card. Wednesday's program also features a pair of carryovers: one in the Pick 5 (starting in Race 9) worth $2,070.76 and one in the late Pick 4 (starting in Race 11) worth $2,051.87. Both wagers feature a takeout of just 15 percent.

First-race post time is 1:10 p.m. (CDT). For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com.

--press release (Oak Grove)--