Four-year-old Kentucky-bred trotters and pacers will compete in four $150,000 finals at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday (July 19).
After four series legs have been conducted, Blue Diamond Eyes, Kildare King, Goldies Legacy and Beltassima have emerged to take control of their divisions. All are favoured to continue that form in their respective finals.
Blue Diamond Eyes will attempt to capture her fifth consecutive race, all in this series, in the first $150,000 final for four-year-old pacing mares. The daughter of Captaintreacherous-Aria Hanover will have the services of Yannick Gingras and is assigned post position four in the field of five. Trained by Ron Burke, Blue Diamond Eyes is the 4-5 favourite in the first race on the card and paced a track-record 1:49.1 in the first leg. Owned by Thomas and Scott Dillon, the mare has banked $1.25 million with a record of 39-15-7-5. Blue Diamond Eyes is a Kentucky and Pennsylvania champion.
In the second race and second final, Kildare King is the 6-5 favourite on the morning line in the contest for male trotters. The son of Trixton-Exclusivity will begin his mile from post position five in the field of five with Gingras at the controls for trainer Chris Beaver. The gelding seeks his fourth consecutive victory over this oval and has won the last three legs after finishing second in the first. Kildare King races as a homebred for Robert Goodman. He sports a record of 32-9-4-3 and has amassed $187,725 in purse money.
Kentucky champion Goldies Legacy is the even-money morning line favourite in the third race, which is the final for male pacers. Gingras will be in the bike when the pair leave from post position two in the field of five. The son of Always A Virgin-Ag N Au Bluegrass was sixth in the second leg of this series but won the first, third and fourth legs. Trained by Jeff Cullipher, Goldies Legacy is owned by his trainer and Pollack Racing. The gelding has earned $464,910 and has a record of 47-16-4-2.
New Jersey champion Beltassima is the 4-5 favourite in the fourth race and last series final of the day. The daughter of Trixton-Beltane Hanover seeks to remain perfect this season. She is trained by Tony Alagna and will be drive by Andrew McCarthy for owner Crawford Farms. Beltassima has dominated her division at Oak Grove this season and possesses a record of 25-11-4-2. She has $422,947 in the bank.
First race post time is 3 p.m. CST.
(Kentucky Harness Association)