Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel will host four $100,000 early Kentucky Sire Stakes finals and four $25,000 consolations for sophomore trotters and pacers on Monday (July 18).

No horse captured both legs in any division, setting the stage for competitive racing on the 12-race card.

Msdinosis Blugrass, Dont Fence Me In vie for filly pace title

Three-year-old filly pacers kick off the day’s finals in race four. Msdinosis Blugrass enters this event off a 1:51.2 triumph in a Kentucky Proud Series contest at Red Mile on July 13. The daughter of JK Endofanera was unraced at two and was second in the first sire stakes leg on June 27 then fifth in the second leg on July 4. Owned by Luel Overstreet, Msdinosis Blugrass will be driven by Todd Warren and is trained by Don Brock. She drew post position six and is 9-2 on the morning line. Msdinosis Blugrass has a record of 9-4-2-2 and has earned $28,535. 

Kentucky champion Dont Fence Me In is 8-5 on the morning line and will start pacing from post position four. The filly captured the second sire stakes leg in 1:52.2 over divisional point-leader Ainthesamewithoutu on July 4. She did not compete in the first leg. Dont Fence Me In will be driven by Andrew McCarthy and is trained by Tony Alagna. The daughter of Captaintreacherous-Mystery Game is owned by Riverview Racing, Alagna Racing, Steven Head and Pryde Stables. Dont Fence Me In has a record of 18-7-5-3 and has earned $389,784. 

Ducasse, Ezra meet again in colt and gelding trot

Ducasse outlasted Ezra by a neck in 1:53.4 to win the second sire stakes leg for male sophomore trotters by a neck. Ezra won the first leg, so the rematch is on in the final which is the eighth race.

Trained by Nancy Takter, Ducasse is 2-1 on the morning line and will be driven by Andrew McCarthy from post position five in the field of eight. The gelding has a record of 9-5-2-1 in 2022 after going winless in four starts as a freshman. The son of Father Patrick-Summer Savory is owned by Brixton Medical Inc., Christina Taxter, Hatfield Stables and has earned $77,786.

Ezra is 9-2 on the morning line and will start trotting from post position eight with Trace Tetrick holding the lines. Trained by Erv Miller, the son of Swan For All-Lima Simplicity has a record of 17-6-2-2 and has banked $77,569. Ezra is a half-brother to Beatrice (sired by Photo Color, $151,009 in earnings) and Anchors Away (Whom Shall I Fear, $164,117). From six foals to race, Lima Simplicity has produced five winners. The gelding competes as a homebred for his trainer and Geis Enterprise. 

Blue Bayou Deo, Pioneer As have their eyes on the filly trot prize

Tied with 75 points each, Blue Bayou Deo and Pioneer As have finished first and second in their respective legs for three-year-old filly trotters. Pioneer As defeated Blue Bayou Deo by a nose in the first leg while Blue Bayou Deo turned the tables on her rival in the second leg with a 1:53 mile, which was a new lifetime mark. 

Trained by Anette Lorentzon, Pioneer As is 2-1 on the morning line and will leave from post position two with Tony Hall in the sulky in the ninth race. The daughter of Devious Man-Provide As races as a homebred for ACL Stuteri AB. Her record stands at 17-5-3-2 and she has earned $111,671.

Blue Bayou Deo is 5-1 on the morning line and will be steered by John MacDonald from post position seven in the field of eight. Trained by Jason Robinson, the daughter of Trixton-Blue Yonder has a record of 18-4-3-5 and has amassed $66,724 in purse money. Blue Bayou Deo is owned by TheStable Blue Bayou Deo. 

Summer Trader is tops in male pace

Despite leading the point standings in this division by virtue of a second in the first leg and winning the second, Summer Trader is 10-1 on the morning line. The son of Sweet Lou-Cool Treasure will begin pacing from post position seven in the field of eight three-year-old male pacers. Hall will be his pilot in the 11th race. Trained by John Ackley, Summer Trader has won three of his last four starts after winning only once at two.  The gelding is owned by CT Stables. He has a record of 13-4-3-1 and has collected $44,986 in purse money.  Summer Trader’s final time of 1:50.3 in the second leg of the sire stakes is the swiftest of his career.

Terminator is 9-2 on the morning line and will start his mile right next to Summer Trader from post position eight. The son of Downbytheseaside-Crescent City will be driven by Andy Miller for trainer Ron Burke.  Owned by Ron Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Knox Services and J&T Silva Stables, the gelding’s bank account stands at $190,883 and sports a record of 16-4-4-4. 

River Ness, who Terminator defeated in the second leg, is 7-2 on the morning line and has been assigned post position five. The son of Huntsville-Summertime Lea will be driven by Yannick Gingras and hails from the Burke barn.  The gelding was second in the first sire stakes leg and third in the second. River Ness was also second in the Kentucky Championship Series final as a freshman.  Owned by Ron Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Frank Baldachino, River Ness has a record of 16-3-3-3 and has earned $147,195. 

Four consolations, for each gait and sex, are scheduled as races one, five, six and seven. 

On July 19, four-year-old Kentucky-breds return to action with four $150,000 finals carded for trotters and pacers in the newly implemented series for that age group. 

To review point standings for the sire stakes and the four-year-old series, click here.

Racing at Oak Grove is conducted on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with a post time of 3 p.m. CST.

(Kentucky Harness Association)