Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel welcomed two-year-olds onto the track as the youngsters got the first miles of their career under their belt in Monday’s four $25,000 divisions of Kentucky Sire Stakes.
Highway Queen (Joey Putnam) opened the card with a 1:55.4 victory in the two-year-old filly pace. Putnam put the daughter of American Ideal towards the back of the field while her stablemate Barefoot Belle (John MacDonald) motored to the lead and uncorked fractions of :29.2, :58.1 and 1:26.3. Highway Queen started revving her engine towards the final turn and mowed down her peers with ease to win by a half length over late-charging stablemate Fearless Bettor (Atlee Bender). Barefoot Belle finished third.
Frank Chick owns Highway Queen, a filly bred by Brittany Farms LLC, Marvin Katz and Lynn Katz out of the Captaintreacherous mare Onemorefortheroad. Tony Dinges conditions the filly, who paid $8.54 to win.
Six Pack got his first pari-mutuel victory as a stallion when his offspring Lupin K (Tim Tetrick) pulled pocket and powered home a 1:59.3 winner in the two-year-old colt and gelding trot. Tetrick had the Don Campbell trainee perched behind leader Mont Saint Michel (Joey Putnam) through a clip of :29.1, :59.3 and 1:30 before making his move. Lupin K pushed past Mont Saint Michel in the lane and then had to withstand a furious rally from 3-5 favourite Pick Pocket (Anthony MacDonald), which she did by a quarter length at odds of 9-1. Mont Saint Michel held third.
Lupin K returned $21.08 in his mild upset. The colt -- bred by Knutsson Trotting Inc. and out of the Coktail Jet mare Destiny K S -- competes for owners Ashley Burslem, Steven Mullen and Keystone Stable.
Tim Tetrick added another Sire Stakes win to his cap with a domination of the two-year-old filly trot by Somthintobelievein. Sent off as the even-money favourite, Tetrick waited in third with the Jeff Cullipher-trained daughter of Father Patrick while Pizzelle (Trevor Smith) cut a clip of :29.4, 1:00.1 and 1:29.3. But Somthintobelievein answered when pulled to move by Tetrick, springing by Pizzelle in the lane to win by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:58. Readly Success (Andy Miller) rode a pocket trip to take third.
Cullipher co-owns Somthintobelievein with Pollack Racing LLC. The filly, bred by Wiesman Farms LLC and out of the Andover Hall mare I Believe, paid $4.18 to win.
Kentucky Sire Stakes action wrapped on Monday with Arson (Anthony MacDonald) firing from a pylon trip with a :27 final quarter to win the two-year-old colt and gelding pace in 1:55.3. MacDonald found himself shuffled to third with the son of Captaintreacherous as Tua Money Captains swept to the lead after a :28.2 first quarter to pocket Acronym and rolled towards a :58 half. Managing to dawdle towards three-quarters in 1:28, Tua Many Captains tried to close the race off the final turn but MacDonald bursted through a seam off the pegs with Arson and blazed home. The Eric Patalan trainee accelerated past Tua Many Captains and extended to a 1-3/4-length win with My Legend (Trevor Smith) grabbing third.
Arson races for Thestable Arson Group and Hutchison Harness LLC. Diamond Creek Farms bred the colt, out of the Western Hanover mare
The co-featured $28,000 Open Trot went to Heath Bar (Matt Krueger), who sat off a contentious tempo set by Stride The Hill (Kevin Wallis) to power home in 1:54.4 and win by 1-3/4 lengths over first-over challenger Perlucky (Anthony MacDonald) and second-over rallier Its A Herbie (Verlin Yoder).
Jamaica Patton trains the victorious six-year-old gelding by Psychic Spirit who now has 21 wins from 89 starts and $158,809 in the bank. Ron Phillips, Sharry Boledovich and Lyle Lipe own the $13.98 winner.
Racing returns to Oak Grove for its first Tuesday program of the season on June 13 and features 10 races, which includes four $25,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes divisions for three-year-olds of each sex and gait. First-race post time at Oak Grove is 3 p.m.
(Oak Grove Racing)