The 2023 harness racing season at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel, which concluded July 10, had significant increases in all-sources wagering handle and total purses paid, giving cause for optimism among players and participants alike for the future of the sport in the Bluegrass State.

Total handle for the 30-day season was just over $7 million, a 103 per cent increase over the 2022 total of $3.4 million. Average daily handle this season was $233,000, up 82 per cent from a $128,000 average last season, and just over 2022's highest single-day handle of $229,000. More than $6.3 million in purses was disbursed through the meet, including $2.7 million in Kentucky Standardbred Development Fund (KSDF) stakes events for two-, three- and four-year-olds that attracted the sport's premier stables and drivers to southern Kentucky.

During the stand, Oak Grove served as the home base for the United States Harness Drivers Club (USHDC), an amateur driving club that raised more than $11,000 for local charities.

After conducting autumn meets in 2020 and 2021, Oak Grove has positioned itself at the beginning of the Kentucky harness racing circuit the past two seasons and will do the same in the spring of 2024, when it hosts its fifth season of Standardbred racing.

(Oak Grove Racing)