Oak Grove Racing & Gaming kicked off its inaugural meet this past Friday (Oct 18).

The first horse to cross the finish line was Dee Rocks, a four-year-old mare trained and driven by Jamaica Patton for owners Ronald Phillips and John Carver of Illinois. The mare went to the front from Post 6 and led the majority of the race through fractions of :27.2, :56.4, and 1:25.1 before hitting the wire in 1:54.1.

The five-eighths-mile oval at Oak Grove was designed by Coon & Associates. The new facility, which will include historical racing and a hotel, is owned by Churchill Downs Inc. and Keeneland, the two Thoroughbred giants in Kentucky. The facility is within minutes of the mammoth Fort Campbell military base and about an hour from Nashville, Tenn.

Racing will take place Friday, Saturday and Sundays through November 10 with post time of 2 p.m.

(Pictures from Oak Grove’s inaugural race card, courtesy of Gene McLean. To view more, click here.)

(Harnessracing.com)