All eyes in the harness racing world will be on Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel this Saturday (May 16) when the Southern Kentucky track hosts the $500,000 G1 Oak Grove Trotting Derby and $300,000 G1 Oak Grove Trotting Oaks. The pair of events for 3-year-olds becomes the newest stop on the road to the $1,000,000 G1 Hambletonian on August 8 at The Meadowlands and stamps Oak Grove as a major player on the Grand Circuit schedule. Exclusively for colts and geldings, the Trotting Derby attracted 19 hopefuls and eliminations were contested on May 4 to weed that number down to the nine finalists competing in the 11th race on Saturday. Favoritism figures to fall to Endurance (post six), who won his elimination in 1:51 3/5, a full second faster than fellow elim winner Silverstein (post nine) and more than two seconds quicker than Spencer Hanover (post one). “I really didn’t know what to expect in that first race,” said Endurance’s trainer Chris Beaver. “[Driver] Andy [McCarthy] said he didn’t know what would happen when he pulled him but once he did, he was all business.” Endurance was making his first start of the year in the Trotting Derby and was last seen finishing second in the Mohawk Million last September. He was supposed to start in the Breeders Crown in October but had to scratch due to a bruised coffin bone. ♦ Get FREE Harness Eye Past Performances for the Saturday card at Oak Grove Last year’s Breeders Crown divisional champion Spencer Hanover was installed as the 2-1 morning-line choice after a 1:53 4/5 score in his first start of 2026. “It was a nice experience for him. The other ones obviously had a little tougher eliminations and went a little bit faster, but we did it very easy. And he looked good. [Driver] Jason [Bartlett] was very happy with him,” said trainer Marcus Melander. Silverstein has the most difficult task of the elim winners due to the outside starting slot in post nine. He also gets a new driver in Scott Zeron after David Miller was injured on May 8 at Scioto Downs. “Anytime you're in the nine hole it's not a good thing. He’s going to have his work cut out for him. I wouldn't have picked it, but we'll race, that's for sure,” said trainer Matt Burkholder, who added that despite the draw he was confident and excited. ♦ Watch video analysis for the $500,000 Oak Grove Trotting Derby Another in the field likely to garner some attention is AI (post three), who had to wait for room to develop in the elimination then finished willingly to be the runner-up to Endurance. AI was the 2025 NYSS champion as a freshman. Both Melander and Burkholder have two entrants in the Trotting Derby, with the former sending out Nix Nacken (post two) and the latter Requiem (post five). “We didn’t plan to bring him to Oak Grove, but then he qualified very well at The Meadowlands and I just figured, give it a shot. I think he'll move forward a lot with that race under his belt, because he only had that one qualifier,” said Melander on Nix Nacken. Burkholder is expecting both Silverstein and Requiem to move forward off their elimination miles. “I think maybe they'll be a little tighter, but they'll have to be,” said Burkholder. The Oak Grove Trotting Oaks for fillies goes one race before the Derby and also includes a field of nine, pared down from the original 27 entrants. Trainer Noel Daley has the lady to beat in Naked And Famous (5-2) from post one with Todd McCarthy in the bike. “I knew she was going good but I didn’t expect that,” said Daley about the track-record 1:51 2/5 elimination round victory. The trainer also has Carve (post four, 6-1) in the field. She was third in her elimination and should be ready for more in her second start of the year. ♦ $20,000 GTD Pick 4 in races 8-11 on Saturday at Oak Grove “She’s a big, strong filly and it was tough to get her ready in time for this race. She’ll be a lot better in the final after that run but Naked is the one they have to beat,” said Daley. Setyoursightshigh (post eight) was installed as the 3-1 second choice despite an elimination round loss to Custom (post six). “She had a long ship from Florida and I think she needed the race,” said trainer Melander. “She's going to move forward a lot with that race under her belt.” Post time for the 11-race Oak Grove card, which also features four $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes finals and a $20,000 guaranteed Pick 4 starting in race eight, is 12:45 p.m. (CDT).