Quick early fractions aided Toms Muscle's closing efforts as driver Josert Fonseca timed his attack with the gelding to perfection, scoring a 10-1 upset in the $41,667 Open Handicap Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday, May 26.

Fonseca settled the Peggy Grant homebred into sixth off the car while Jigger Dk (Todd McCarthy) hustled up the rim to grab the lead through a :26.1 first quarter. Once activated, Jigger Dk carried unrelenting speed to a :53.3 half in an attempt to leave his rivals wavering. Toms Muscle began advancing through the pack up the backstretch as the tempo softened and loomed to within three lengths of the leader passing three-quarters in 1:22.3. Jigger Dk tried to dig in through the final quarter, but Toms Muscle persisted on the outside in the stretch and surged to a three-quarter-length victory in 1:52.3. Little Expensive (Tyler Miller) followed the winner's cover to take third.

A five-year-old gelding by Long Tom-Trot Time, Toms Muscle won his third race from eight starts this season and is now 10-for-49 lifetime with earnings of $253,810. Grant owns, trains and bred the gelding. Win tickets returned $23.36.

Later on the card, Prince Willie ($2.20) crushed a field of developing pacers by 5-3/4 lengths for his fifth straight victory. Joey Putnam had the three-year-old son of Lazarus N-Princess Layla on the engine through :27.3, :57.3 and 1:25 splits, and the gelding drew clear to a 1:52.4 score. Variant (Jordan Patton) was second-best, followed by Big Hess (Atlee Bender). Roger Cullipher trains Prince Willie, who four races in a row at two, culminating in the Kentucky Proud Series final at the end of his season. Following his sophomore debut on Tuesday, the gelding is five-for-six lifetime and has earned $65,897 for owner Ron Mersky.

Live racing resumes at Oak Grove on Monday, June 1, featuring the second preliminary round of the Kentucky Sire Stakes for four-year-olds. First-race post time is 1:10 p.m. (CDT).

(Oak Grove & Standardbred Canada)