Following a vicious rally into second at the top class in his seasonal bow last week, Little Expensive took the point and held his ground to notch a 1:53.2 victory in the $41,096 Open Handicap Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday, April 21.
Driver Tyler Miller motored Little Expensive to the fore out of post six to clear Dp Freedoms Chrome (Marcus Miller) passing a :27.2 first quarter. Little Expensive then settled into rhythm while cruising to a breather in a :57.1 half and braced for challengers into the backstretch. Cecil Hanover (Devon Tharps), the 3-2 favourite, mounted a first-over bid out of fourth with longshot Toms Muscle (Josert Fonseca) in tow and gradually marched towards the leader nearing three-quarters in 1:24.4. Pressure continued to build spinning for home with Cecil Hanover persisting on the rim and Toms Muscle mustering sharp momentum late, but Little Expensive responded with grit and extended for the line to secure victory by three-quarters of a length. Toms Muscle took second from Cecil Hanover.
A six-year-old gelding by Muscle Hill-Seviyorum, Little Expensive collected his 19th win from 64 starts and has now earned $463,257. He is owned by Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen and VIP Internet Stable LLC. The Julie Miller trainee paid $5.48 to win.
Atlee Bender, the leading driver at Oak Grove in 2023 and 2024, continued building steam in the 2026 meeting with five victories on the 12-race Tuesday card. He found the winner's circle with Degas (1:55; $6), Ponda Eagle (1:53.3; $7.66), Sherocks Sherolls A (1:54.4; $8.22), Whiskey Wow (1:54.4; $3.46) and International Law (1:56.2; $2.98).
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Monday, April 27 with a loaded day of stakes racing. Monday's card features the opening preliminary round of the Kentucky Sire Stakes series for four-year-olds of each sex and gait as well as prep races for trotting sophomores ahead of the Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Oak Grove Trotting Oaks eliminations, which take place following the Kentucky Derby on Monday, May 4. All of these stakes then culminate through the Oak Grove Festival of Racing to a special day of harness racing on Preakness Day, Saturday, May 16, headlined by the inaugural $500,000 USD Oak Grove Trotting Derby and $300,000 USD Oak Grove Trotting Oaks.
First-race post time on Monday at Oak Grove is 1:10 p.m. (CDT).
(Oak Grove)