Hope Hill out-sprinted the surrounding early speed to take the lead and cruised on the engine to a track-record 1:49.1 victory in the $85,714 Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) "A" division for three-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday, July 8 at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel.

Leaving from post three, driver Dexter Dunn hustled Hope Hill to the lead through a :26.2 first quarter to pocket Caviart Daisy (Scott Zeron) and then hit the brakes slightly moving for a :54.4 half. Interstellar (Marvin Luna) angled off the pylons from fourth to lay a mild first-up attack while Hope Hill smoothly accelerated to three-quarters in 1:22 and kept chugging through the remainder. She crossed the beam 1-1/4 lengths better than Caviart Daisy with Interstellar chasing in third.

A filly by Papi Rob Hanover-Ruth Hill, Hope Hill won her fourth race from six starts this season and her eighth race from 15 starts in her career. The Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee has now earned $265,303 for owner-breeder Tom Hill. She broke the previous track record for three-year-old pacing fillies of 1:49.4 set in 2023 by Charleston and matched last season by Unreasonable. The win price was $4.42. 

Funky Buddha, driven by Tim Tetrick, posted arguably the most game mile of the meet at Oak Grove when never relenting in his first-over challenge against odds-on leader Show Me Your Ace in the $85,714 KYSS "A" division for sophomore male pacers.

Tetrick charged out of post seven with the Tony Dinges trainee and was forced to push forward after leader Show Me Your Ace (Dexter Dunn) with Captain Apple (Yannick Gingras) and Louaville (Scott Zeron) sealing any vacancies at the pylons. Funky Buddha raced at Show Me Your Ace's throat to a :26.4 first quarter and through a :54.1 half before the favourite retreated midway up the backstretch, at which point Funky Buddha faced a bid from Papi Rick (Andy McCarthy), who was rolling from mid-pack. Past three-quarters in 1:21.3, Funky Buddha dug in against a late two-pronged onslaught for a head victory in 1:49.3 with Captain Apple skimming through a seam at the pylons for second and Papi Rick settling for third.

A colt by Sweet Lou-The Double Deuce, Funky Buddha won his second race from five starts in 2026 and is now five-for-15 lifetime with $282,243 in earnings for owner Rick Berks. As the 10-1 fourth choice, he paid $22.18 to win.

Trainer Brett Pelling registered a hat trick on the 16-race card with three wins inside of the six $57,142 KYSS "B" divisions for three-year-old pacers. He sent the gelding Sea Bistro Hanover (Todd McCarthy, 1:50.3, $4.40) to victory in the first split for males, as well as a pair of fillies in Gracious (Todd McCarthy, 1:52, $3.30) and Sunny Station (Todd McCarthy, 1:50.2, $3.08). Pelling is clicking at a 30.2 per cent rate this season with 49 wins from 162 starts.

Gonebutnotforgottn (Tim Tetrick, 1:50.1, $6.72) won the other "B" division for sophomore pacing fillies, while Benny B Hill (Dexter Dunn, 1:50.4, $7.04) and Fire Run (Marvin Luna, 1:50.3, $45.30) scored in the other dashes for sophomore pacing males.

After the day's KYSS action, Little Expensive (Tyler Miller) pulled an upset in the undercard feature, the $57,143 Open Handicap Trot. He took a pocket trip behind Platinum As (Yannick Gingras) through a clip of :27.2, :55.4 and 1:23.3 before pouncing to score by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:52. The Rogue Prince (Markus Niklasson) rallied from a ground-saving trip for second. Platinum As settled for third.

Julie Miller trains Little Expensive, a six-year-old son of Muscle Hill-Seviyorum, for owners Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen and VIP Internet Stable LLC. The gelding won his fourth race from nine starts this season and tallied his 22nd win from 71 starts in his career, upping his bankroll to $552,397. He paid $27.28 to win.

Live racing at Oak Grove returns for closing week of the track's 2026 harness racing season on Monday, July 13 with a 15-race card featuring a pair of $80,000 USD KYSS finals for pacing two-year-olds. First-race post time is 10:55 a.m. (CDT).

(Oak Grove)