Atlee Bender gave another aggressive steer to Odds On Blockchain and carved a great trip to snag a 1:49.3 victory in the $49,315 Open Pace at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Monday, May 20.
Leaving from post one, Bender pushed for the lead after a :26.2 first quarter to pocket Muskateer Hanover (Tony Hall) and shuffle Rocks Shining Star (Jack Killeen) past the stands first time. Odds On Blockchain maintained his momentum past a :54.2 half but soon faced a fierce blitz from Rocks Shining Star up the backside, who then pinned Odds On Blockchain into the pocket to three-quarters in 1:21.1. Rocks Shining Star motored through the final turn while Odds On Blockchain loomed on his foe's helmet and angled wide for the drive to grab the lead in mid-stretch in progress to a neck victory. Muskateer Hanover darted up the pylons to take second from Rocks Shining Star with Saddle Up (Marvin Luna) grabbing fourth.
Odds On Blockchain, five-year-old gelding by JK Endofanera, won his 13th race from 54 starts and has now earned $194,773. Erv Miller trains the $15.92 winner for owner Doug Overhiser.
Hungry For Love (Joey Putnam) later dipped from the Kentucky Sire Stakes and clinched a top-class win in the final stride of the $49,315 Fillies & Mares Open Pace in 1:51.4.
Putnam pushed Hungry For Love to the fore through a :26.1 first quarter before settling for the pocket behind Sweet Charlie (Atlee Bender) with a lap remaining. Sweet Charlie coasted to the half in :55 as Ainthesamewithoutu (Tony Hall) rushed from the back on the rim to challenge for the lead. Ainthesamewithoutu ground to put a head in front while under a snug hold from Hall despite Sweet Charlie keeping her parked to three-quarters in 1:23. Sweet Charlie levelled off through the final turn as Ainthesamewithoutu forged to the lead on the spin for home, but Putnam squeezed past Sweet Charlie and the pylons to come charging for the lead late. Hungry For Love slid through and notched the win by a nose at the beam over Ainthesamewithoutu while Southwind Bella (Brandon Bates) closed for third and Sweet Charlie settled for fourth.
Ron Burke trains Hungry For Love, a four-year-old mare by Stay Hungry, for owners Thomas and Scott Dillon. Hungry For Love won her 14th race from 38 starts and has now banked $471,821. She paid $3.12 to win.
The Anette Lorentzon barn sparkled on Monday with three wins on the 13-race card. Lorentzon scored a quickfire double with Seeuontheotherside ($2.44) and Mister Dad ($6.08) then later sealed the hat trick with a win by Sprinter N ($3.02).
As the sun was beginning to set on a great day of harness racing at Oak Grove, the United States Harness Drivers Club (USHDC) -- specifically Club member Peter Kleinhans -- was about to put icing on the cake.
Kleinhans, whose history in harness racing stretches back nearly four decades, was in the sulky back of his newly acquired six-year-old Sunshine Beach gelding Jim Strikesitrich and proceeded to scorch the Oak Grove oval in 1:52.1. The margin of victory was a “neck” short of 10 lengths as Jim Strikesitrich was “on-the-bit” leaving and, after a quick yield to Ayr Pioneer GB at the sizzling :26.3 opener, reclaimed command and carded subsequent fractions of :54.4 and 1:23.3 before a :28.3 finale pierced the wire in 1:52.1. Not only was this a seasonal best, it was a lifetime best performance, three-fifths of a second faster than his previous best over the larger Hoosier Park oval last season.
Left in the wake of Jim Strikesitrich was Captain Mckee (Jafari Frazier) with Shes A Fireball (Cassidy Whitton) third. Mingo (Jill Brown) and Danza (John Mungillo) picked up the minor awards.
Roni Vandervort trains for Kleinhans as Jim Strikesitrich won for the second time in nine starts this semester and 21st time career-wise, sending his lifetime earnings to over the $150,000 mark.
Driving sparingly in amateur events, Kleinhans now has six wins this year in 27 starts -- his most successes in a season since 2005 when he won 10 times. He now has 70 career wins -- and his second straight success over the past two amateur sessions, having won with Paperback Thriller last week.
The winner went off at 53 cents to a dollar -- penny breakage in Kentucky -- and paid $3.06 to win.
Live harness racing resumes at Oak Grove on Tuesday, May 21 at 3 p.m. (CDT) and features a carryover in the last-race Super High 5 worth $1,383.05. Free program pages for every race day, courtesy of TrackMaster, are available on the Oak Grove Racing website.
(With files from Oak Grove Racing & USHDC)