Drink Up Drink Up took down the $30,556 Open Handicap Trot at Harrah's Hoosier Park on Wednesday, April 8 for his fourth Open-class win in his last five outings.

He shot out of post five for Brandon Bates and crossed over in front of Finite (Trace Tetrick) to lead the field to the quarter in :28.2. The trotters raced single file down the backstretch with Drink Up Drink Up at the helm followed closely by Finite to the half in :57.4. The first to buck the trend was Triathlon As (Atlee Bender), who moved out of fourth and was tailed by Operator (Marcus Miller) while trotting first-up into third on the final turn with Drink Up Drink Up leading to three-quarters in 1:27.2. Drink Up Drink Up brushed off Triathlon As at the top of the stretch, and he resisted Finite down the lane, coming home under wraps to a 1:54.4 victory by three-quarters of a length. Operator rallied for second over Finite.

The winning son of Trixton-Homefortheholidays, owned by Adam Friedland and Brian Carsey, claimed his fourth tally of the season in six attempts. The six-year-old Walter Haynes Jr. trainee has now earned $545,923 and won 23 times in 86 lifetime starts. Drink Up Drink Up returned $4.20 to win as the even-money favourite.

Trainer Ron Burke tripled on the 14-race card. Kousin Karl ($2.60) kicked things off for the stable with a dominant score in a division of The Cardinal, and Mooter Tooter ($13.80) and August Salazar ($3.20) each took splits of the Chad E. Carlton Trotting Series. Burke is third in the Hoosier standings with 13 wins, four behind leader Tyler George and one back of second-placed Charles Stewart. North America's leading trainer is 184-for-891 overall so far on the season.

Live racing at Hoosier Park continues on Thursday, April 9 with a 5:30pm post time. The 14-race program features a $15,000 guaranteed Late Pick 4 (Races 11-14) in addition to a $10,000 guaranteed late High 5 (Race 14), with both guarantees offered in partnership with the USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program.

(With files from Hoosier Park)