Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel wrapped its sixth year hosting live harness racing this past week, which proved to be the greatest season yet for the southwest Kentucky track with continued handle gains year over year as well as a successful foray onto the Grand Circuit with the inaugural running of the $684,932 Oak Grove Trotting Derby as well as the $410,959 Oak Grove Trotting Oaks.

The introduction of the Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Oaks, which were held alongside a rich day of racing on Preakness Saturday (May 16), added buzz and anticipation for racing at Oak Grove coming into 2026, which has already been building as more and more owners, horsepeople and gamblers have been drawn to the ever-improving harness racing product out of southwest Kentucky. These marquee races for Oak Grove — the latest stepping stone towards harness racing's classic events in the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks — provided year-defining performances by Oaks winner Jailbird Jog and Derby winner Spencer Hanover as well as Derby runner-up Endurance, and their performances have bolstered their champion profiles to add depth to the body of the sport's top trotting prospects on the approach to the career-defining races in the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks.

With the quality of racing both in overnights and stakes improving at Oak Grove year over year, the bettors have also responded with their dollars to help the track once again grow in wagering handle. Gamblers pushed nearly $13 million USD through the windows on Oak Grove action in 2026, a 13 percent increase from 2025's gross handle. And for the third year in a row, Oak Grove broke its single-day handle record on the Monday following the Kentucky Derby, but because bettors showed such high interest in Oak Grove racing on that day, the track responded by building a robust card that included the eliminations for the inaugural Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Oaks. The bettors responded to the loaded card of stakes racing with the sports' best horses, drivers and trainers in competition by pushing a record $873,180 USD through the windows, crushing the previous single-day handle record by 50 percent. Oak Grove's growth in the harness racing sphere has remained constant, with handle increasing at the track every single year since its opening in 2020. 

Adding to the record-breaking season, Oak Grove literally broke records on the track with a total of 12 track records set through the 2026 season. Track records started to fall on the Monday, May 4th card of racing when Naked And Famous scorched the track to win her elimination of the Oak Grove Trotting Oaks in 1:51.2, besting a nearly two-year-old track record for sophomore trotting fillies. From there, 11 other track records were either equaled or lowered on the revamped Oak Grove surface including the all-age marks on the pace and trot with Whiskey Wow trotting the fastest mile ever over the track with a 1:50.3 win in a Kentucky Sire Stakes event on May 25th and Sea Bistro Hanover pacing a 1:48 mile on closing day to win his Kentucky Sire Stakes final for three-year-old males as well as to match the record set by Admiral Hill as a four-year-old in 2024. 

Oak Grove will carry this momentum into 2027 with the second edition of the Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Oaks, and with every season will provide a high-quality racing product for gamblers as well as owners, breeders and trainers to help create lucrative opportunities for industry participants competing inside of the horse racing capital of the world, Kentucky. 

For more information on other events happening during the racing off season, as well as to stay up-to-date on news for the 2027 live harness racing season, visit the Oak Grove website.

(Oak Grove)