Jean-Pierre Dubois, an 85-year-old internationally recognized horseman across multiple breeds, went behind the gate for the first time since 2011 on Tuesday, April 14 at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel and won a $19,444 non-winners-of-two trotting event.

The accomplished owner and breeder scored a game victory out of post nine with Chapel, a sophomore son of Chapter Seven-Beautiful Game. Dubois worked the gelding, whom he also trains, to the front over the first three-eighths of a mile, allowed Ghostbuster Sa (Zyler Maxwell) to go to the lead on the backstretch, then summoned his horse from the pocket on the final turn and got him home a 1:56.3 winner. Chapel is two-for-two this year for owners Dream With Me Florida LLC and Follow Me Stable LLC. He paid $8.10 to win.

Dubois last visited the winner's circle as a driver in August 2011 before his 15-year hiatus. He also scored his second training victory since October 2011 on Tuesday. He has owned and/or bred a number of high-profile horses, including French sire Love You, two-time Breeders Crown champion Ecurie D Dk and O'Brien Award winners Crys Dream and Brigham Dream.

A $2,217.08 carryover in the $1 Pick 4 at Oak Grove on Tuesday attracted bettors in droves, and those with winning tickets cashed in on a profitable minus-pool opportunity that handily trumped the dollar parlay.

Gamblers piled $11,745.42 in new money into the Pick 4 sequence on Tuesday, which — given the wager already has a lowered 15 per cent takeout for the 2026 meet — created an effective takeout of nearly minus-four per cent as the carryover money negates the takeout. In the win pools, the sequence proved logical with a third choice (5-2 odds), a favourite (6-5), a third choice (5-2) and another favourite (6-5) finding the winner's circle. The dollar parlay of those four races would return $76, while the $1 Pick 4 paid $386.30 — more than five times greater than the parlay. The power of carryovers at Oak Grove also showed on the Monday card with a $1,122.61 carryover into the Late Pick 5. A sequence of winners' odds of 7-1, 4-5, 3-5, 14-1 and 1-5 paid $458.93 on a 20-cent ticket.

Handle at Oak Grove heading into the fifth week of racing remains up 5.4 per cent year over year compared to the first four weeks of the 2025 meet. Monday's card particularly showed a strong boost in betting with handle up 8.7 per cent year over year.

Marcus Miller led all drivers on the week with four wins while several drivers doubled: Marvin Luna, Wyatt Avenatti, Atlee Bender, Josert Fonseca, Ronnie Wrenn Jr., Devon Tharps and amateur driver Christina Grubich. On the training side, the Mississippi contingent flourished, accounting for eight wins from the 25 races held this week. Trainers Lawrence Cooper, the kingpin of Cooper Downs based in Terry, Miss., and Mann Hughes notched doubles on the week while Trent Stohler was the only trainer not based out of Mississippi to double. Other training wins from the Mississippi camp came from Jimmy Watson, Roshun Trigg, Danarius Dortch and Randy Crisler.

Ronnie Wrenn Jr. still holds the top spot on the drivers' standings at Oak Grove with 11 victories through the meet followed by Brandon Bates in second with 10 wins, Marcus Miller in third with nine and Atlee Bender in fourth with eight. Ron Burke and Crisler currently sit tied atop the trainers' standings at six wins apiece while Tony Dinges and Walter Haynes Jr. are tied for third with five.

Dortch scored a memorable win on the Monday program in a $16,667 conditioned pace. Dortch picked up the training duties on Major Pete, a five-year-old stallion by Riggins-Marley, and steered him to victory in the horse's second start off of a two-year layoff.

Classy Wayne Oke pupil No Lou Zing, a local favourite since joining the Oak Grove circuit in 2023, has entered USD millionaire watch. With a 1:54.3 victory in the finale on Monday, the nine-year-old Sweet Lou-Terroronthebeach gelding, who has recently reunited with his original driver Josert Fonseca, sits less than $2,000 USD away from the seven-figure USD plateau.

The May schedule of racing at Oak Grove received an adjustment. Oak Grove will host a special Sunday program of racing on Mother's Day, May 10, followed by racing on Monday, May 11, shifting the racing schedule up one day. The Mother's Day card leads a gangbuster week of action at Oak Grove culminating in the inaugural $500,000 USD Oak Grove Trotting Derby on a jam-packed day of stakes racing on Saturday, May 16. Eliminations for the Oak Grove Trotting Derby will be held on Monday, May 4.

First-race post time every race day at Oak Grove is 1:10 p.m. (CDT).

(With files from Oak Grove)