Working a second-over trip, Keg Stand struck at the most opportune time to scoot away from his competition and notch a 1:53.3 win in the $45,833 Open Handicap Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday afternoon, May 6.
Leaving from post four, Keg Stand and driver Jeremy Indof floated off the car to sit fifth while even-money favourite Railee Something (Joey Putnam) pushed forward and soon obliged for a pocket ride to DP Freedoms Chrome (Peter Wrenn) through a :26.3 first quarter. DP Freedoms Chrome slowed the tempo to a :55.4 half, but Oh Look Magic (Trace Tetrick) swiftly angled out of third to charge forward on the rim after the leader in the second-quarter breather.
Indof caught cover from Oh Look Magic and cruised while perched on the helmet to three-quarters in 1:24.2. Oh Look Magic and DP Freedoms Chrome stayed locked in battle spinning for home as Indof launched Keg Stand three-wide and rolled by the embattled duo to post a 1-1/4-length win. Oh Look Magic held second from Railee Something, who shook free from a locked pocket and rallied down the center of the track for third. DP Freedoms Chrome faded to fourth.
A six-year-old gelding by Bar Hopping, Keg Stand won his 24th race from 74 starts and has now earned $920,725. Tony Dinges trains the gelding for owners David Hamm and EVM Racing LLC. He paid $12.26 to win.
In the race before the Open, a pair of drivers were unseated from the bikes when hooking wheels in the stretch drive. Tony Hall and Jordan Patton were dumped from their sulkies, but both horses involved walked away without injuries. Hall, getting up from the incident on his own strength, booked off the remainder of his drives on the afternoon while Patton was taken to hospital for further evaluation. Oak Grove will share any updates on the accident as information becomes available.
Racing continues at Oak Grove on Sunday, May 11 with a 13-race card that includes four $100,000 USD finals of Kentucky Sire Stakes for four-year-olds. First-race post time at Oak Grove is 1:45 p.m. (CDT). But starting on Monday, May 12, Oak Grove will shift to a first-race post time of 1:25 p.m. (CDT) for the remainder of the meet, with one exception for its race card on Sunday, May 25.
(Oak Grove)