Off as the second longest shot on the board, College Tuition bolted for the lead and carved the mile to his liking for a 1:54.3 upset in the $41,096 Open Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday, April 16.
Driver John MacDonald motored College Tuition to the point from the pylon post and cleared Just For Trix (Tyler Shehan), whose tire came unlatched from the wheel, before a :27.3 first quarter. College Tuition cruised on an uncontested lead past the stands and clocked a :58.1 half while Just For Trix began to straggle from the broken equipment and Railee Something (Roger Cullipher) advanced on the outside.
Railee Something slid into the pocket up the backside but gave chase as MacDonald slammed the hammer with College Tuition to sprint towards three-quarters in 1:25.1 and bottom the well for the stretch drive. MacDonald kept College Tuition to task in the lane to land the 19-1 upset by three lengths over Swan Flyer (Devon Tharps), who powered off cover to take second. Usosweet Blue Chip (Atlee Bender) moved into third and Its A Herbie (Verlin Yoder) took fourth through the disqualification of third-place finisher Railee Something, as the judges determined her responsible for interference to Just For Trix and his tire.
Winning for the 13th time from 101 starts, College Tuition has now banked $253,865 for owner Eric Foster. Tony Dinges trains the six-year-old gelding by Donato Hanover who paid $40.80 to win.
Sparks Fly (Atlee Bender) decimated his rivals in the co-featured $26,027 Open 2 Trot. Sparks Fly floated out of post eight and found cover to stalk from second over before pouncing and powering to a 4-3/4-length win in 1:55 over Brace For Landing (John MacDonald) and Empire Builder (Marvin Luna).
Erv Miller trains the four-year-old Bar Hopping gelding, who won his seventh race from 18 starts and has now earned $96,991 for his Ervin Miller Stable Inc. and co-owner Douglas Overhiser. Sparks Fly paid $3.30 to win.
In total, trainer Erv Miller scored three wins on the day. He won his first of the afternoon with Within The Wild (Atlee Bender; $2.62), his second with Sparks Fly and his third in the last of the day with Morning Edition (Atlee Bender; $9.60).
Live harness racing resumes at Oak Grove next Monday, April 22 at 3 p.m. (CDT). Free program pages for every race day, courtesy of TrackMaster, are available on the Oak Grove Racing website.
(Oak Grove Racing)