Four-year-old pacing mare Blue Diamond Eyes lowered her own track record to 1:48.3 as Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel hosted four $150,000 finals for four-year-old Kentucky-bred trotters and pacers on Tuesday, July 19. Beltassima remains undefeated this year after capturing her final for trotting mares in 1:53.4. Kildare King and Komodo Beach scored in 1:51.2 and 1:50 in their respective divisions for male trotters and pacers.
Blue Diamond Eyes and Yannick Gingras were content to settle in fourth after leaving from post position four with Classicist (Andrew McCarthy) clicking off fractions of :25.2 and :54.2. Prior to approaching the three-quarter pole, Gingras gave the daughter of Captaintreacherous-Aria Hanover her cue. The Kentucky champion assumed control with a :26.2 quarter-mile and then paced home in :27.3. Classicist was second and Single Girl (Randy Jerrell) was third.
Blue Diamond Eyes broke the previous track record of 1:49.1 for four-year-old pacing mares that she set in the first leg of this series on June 7.
Trained by Ron Burke, Blue Diamond Eyes collected her fifth (consecutive) victory from eight starts this season and improved her career record to 40-16-7-5. The Brittany Farms-bred mare has now earned $1.32 million for owners Thomas and Scott Dillon.
She paid $2.20 to win.
Kildare King provided Gingras with his second series final victory when he stopped the clock in 1:51.2 in the event for male trotters. In third for the first quarter-mile, Kildare King trotted to the lead at the half-mile pole and withstood the late charge of Flemsteen (Joey Putnam) to complete the exacta for trainer Chris Beaver. Jula Muscle Pack (McCarthy) was third.
After finishing a close second in the series opener, Kildare King has earned four wins in a row and is now eight-for-11 on the season. His career record now stands at 33-10-4-3 and the son of Trixton-Exclusivity has amassed $262,725 for owner/breeder Robert Goodman.
The gelding paid $2.40 to win.
After a costly break at the gate by Kentucky champion and favourite Goldies Legacy, Komodo Beach and Andrew McCarthy went gate to wire in 1:50 in the final for male pacers. Mad Man Hill (Todd Warren) was second and Caviart Lotus (Tony Hall) was third.
Trained by Noel Daley, Komodo Beach picked up his second win of the series/season from six starts in 2022 and now sports of a career resume reading 36-11-10-5 with $377,589 in purse earnings. The son of Somebeachsomewhere-Imagine Dragon was bred by Lindy Farms and is owned by Morrison Racing Stables.
The gelding paid $6 to win.
Beltassima has still not tasted defeat in 2022. The daughter of Trixton-Beltane Hanover was immediately placed on the lead by McCarthy and never relinquished her advantage in the final for trotting mares. Awesome Trix (Hall) was second and Highly Acclaimed (Dan Shetler) was third.
Trained by Tony Alagna, Beltassima has won five races to begin her four-year-old campaign. She now has a career record reading 26-12-4-2 with $497,927 banked. Beltassima is owned by Crawford Farms and was bred by D Farms.
She paid $2.10 to win.
(With files from KHA)