A four-way blanket finish in the $46,649 Open Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday, June 17 turned into an inseparable photo between Railee Something and Amigo Volo, who hit the finish together in a 1:53.4 mile to dead-heat for win.
Railee Something, driven by Joey Putnam, fired out of post seven and reached for the lead as Amigo Volo and Peter Wrenn split through traffic to push for a forward seat into a :26.4 first quarter. Amigo Volo settled for the pocket passing the stands and Railee Something slowed the tempo to a :56 half while Iwont Backdown As (Tony Hall) — the 7-5 favourite — readied a first-over push for the backside.
Iwont Backdown As made minimal gains on the rim as Railee Something sprinted up the backstretch to clock three-quarters in 1:23.4. But she soon hit a wall around the final turn while on a two-length cushion and dug to hold her ground with company encroaching in the stretch drive. Amigo Volo angled outside and surged at the center of a charge with Oh Look Magic (Trace Tetrick) rallying up a seam at the inside and DP Freedoms Chrome (Marvin Luna) kicking from second over. Railee Something stuck her head up at the line as Amigo Volo mounted a final lunge after the leader, and the two crossed together while just a nose better than Oh Look Magic in third. DP Freedoms Chrome finished a half-length off the winners in fourth.
Roger Cullipher trains Railee Something, a five-year-old daughter of International Moni, for owner/breeder Ronald Mersky while Carter Pinske conditions Amigo Volo, an eight-year-old gelding by Father Patrick, for owners Pinske Stables and David Miller. Railee Something won her 25th race from 53 starts while Amigo Volo collected his 46th victory from 122 tries, both adding to their million-dollar-plus bankrolls. Railee Something paid $5.50 to win and Amigo Volo returned $7.38.
The dead-heat was one of five driving wins on the day for Joey Putnam, who opened the wild 13-race card with a pick-up drive on Jog On Col (1:56.3 winning mile; $4.38 to win). Putnam later scored a natural hat trick — his win with Railee Something coming in the middle — with victories by Tickled To Tears (1:56.3; $32.58) and another pick-up drive with Seth Hanover (1:55.1; $21.02). Putnam capped the day capitalizing on a sudden break in stride by 3-5 favoyrite Southwind Mai Tai in the penultimate race to inherit the lead with Luckey Stormin (1:57.2; $90.06) and hold to the finish for a 1-1/2-length victory.
Racing continues at Oak Grove on Wednesday, June 18 with the Western Kentucky State Fair. A 14-race non-betting card goes postward starting at 8 a.m. (CDT) and a 17-race betting card gets underway at 2:30 p.m. (CDT).
(With files from Oak Grove)