Oak Grove: Two more track records fall in 2026 finale

Brett Pelling trainee Sea Bistro Hanover set flight past the quarter and muscled around the track to equal the fastest pacing mile ever at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel with a 1:48 victory in the $80,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) final for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings on Wednesday (July 15), capping the closing week of the 2026 season which offered nearly $2 million in purses.

Leaving from post five, driver Todd McCarthy motored Sea Bistro Hanover away into third as Papi Rick (driven by Andy McCarthy) ripped out of post seven to a 26 second first quarter, chased by post eight starter Captain Apple (Yannick Gingras). Sea Bistro Hanover angled out of third passing the stands the first time and brushed by Papi Rick for the lead while maintaining his speed to a 54 2/5 half. Captain Apple flushed off the cones to race first-up as his stablemate Show Me Your Ace (Dexter Dunn) pushed on the outside from mid-pack, but Sea Bistro Hanover continued at a quick clip to three-quarters in 1:21 1/5. Papi Rick remained the closest pursuer spinning for home, though Sea Bistro Hanover staved off that late challenge for a half-length win, with Benny B Hill (Scott Zeron) saving ground to take third and Funky Buddha (Tim Tetrick) rallying from third-over for fourth.

A Captaintreacherous-Santa Rosa gelding, Sea Bistro Hanover won his third race from eight starts this season and his fourth race from 15 starts in his career, earning $103,850. His 1:48 mile crushes the previous track record for 3-year-old pacing geldings of 1:49 1/5 set last year by Harrisburg Heist and matches the all-age pacing record established in 2024 by Admiral Hill. Sent off as the third choice in the betting, he paid $10.14 to win.

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Hope Hill (Dexter Dunn) slashed her track record set a week ago with a 1:48 3/5 stroll to win the $80,000 KYSS final for 3-year-old pacing fillies, lowering the previous mark by three-fifths of a second. Dunn looped his charge out of third past a 26 second first quarter to take the lead from Gonebutnotforgottn (Tim Tetrick) and sailed through steady middle fractions of 54 seconds and 1:21 4/5. Interstellar (Marvin Luna) mounted a first-over challenge into the backstretch but plateaued turning for home while Hope Hill coasted to the line a winner by three-quarters of a length. Gonebutnotforgottn shook free from the pocket late but settled for second, with Interstellar holding third and Caviart Daisy (Scott Zeron) saving ground for fourth.

Virgil Morgan Jr. trains Hope Hill, a homebred Papi Rob Hanover-Ruth Hill filly, for owner Tom Hill. She won her fifth race from seven starts this season and her ninth race from 16 starts in her career, earning $230,655. She paid $3.18 to win.

Oak Grove hosted five $50,000 KYSS "B" divisions on the closing day undercard. Caviart Anders (Todd McCarthy, 1:49 4/5 winning mile; $8.08 to win), Louaville (Scott Zeron, 1:51; $4.20) and Thiago Hanover (Dexter Dunn, 1:50; $5.94) won the dashes for sophomore pacing males, while Lady Panera (Atlee Bender, 1:52 1/5; $43.24) and Bettor Be A Star (Dexter Dunn, 1:51 2/5; $3.08) won the splits for sophomore pacing fillies.

Atlee Bender secured another driving title at Oak Grove, reclaiming the crown after finishing second in last year's standings to Marvin Luna. Bender led all drivers through the meet with 52 wins while Dexter Dunn took second with 44 wins. Todd McCarthy scored a hat trick on closing day to tie for third at 33 wins on the meet alongside Marcus Miller while Joey Putnam's one win on closing day placed him in a tie for fifth with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. at 26 wins.

On the training side, North America's leading trainer Ron Burke secured the leading trainer title with 31 wins on the meet, thwarting defending champ Erv Miller - Oak Grove's leading trainer the last three years - by two victories. Tony Dinges finished third in the standings with 21 wins, followed by Wayne Oke in fourth with 20 wins and Joe Putnam overtaking fifth from Carter Pinske with 17 wins after scoring a closing day victory.

Live racing at Oak Grove will return in 2027. For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com.

--press release (Oak Grove)--