Trainer Anette Lorentzon dominated the nine-race card at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Monday (July 3) with four wins on the day, including a victory in the $35,000 Tom Shehan Memorial Open Trot by Pioneer As in 1:53.4.
In the feature, Pioneer As (driver John MacDonald) floated away sixth while Stride The Hill (Kevin Wallis) secured the lead through a :26.4 first quarter. Its A Herbie (Verlin Yoder) settled into third, but was soon forced to pull first up as Pioneer As loomed nearer along the rim to a :56.2 half. Its A Herbie laid aim on Stride The Hill up the backstretch and stayed alongside through three-quarters in 1:24.1. Stride The Hill held his ground at the inside turning for home while Pioneer As sprung three-wide and gathered his momentum with Heath Bar (Matt Krueger) barrelling down the center of the course. Pioneer As grabbed the lead in the last eighth and kept a half-length in front of fast-closing Heath Bar at the line with Stride The Hill third and Bluebird Deacon (Atlee Bender) fourth.
Pioneer As won her eighth race from 36 starts and has now earned $288,678 for owner-breeder ACL Stuteri AB. She paid $6.82 to win.
Lorentzon opened the day with a pair of wins to sweep the early daily double. Thewalloflove As (1:57.4 winning mile; $5.50 to win) and Lucifers Legend A (1:54; $2.40) went coast to coast in the first two races. And then to bookend the card, Lorentzon won in near coast-to-coast fashion with Wewillrockyou As (1:54.1; $8.60).
Conditioner Erv Miller, currently sitting atop the training leaderboard, also had a big day with three wins, including a 1:55.1 win by Big Christian ($4.78) in the $22,500 Open 2 Trot. Big Christian, sent off as the 6-5 favourite, grabbed the lead from post seven through a :28.1 first quarter and repelled the first-over push of 7-5 DGs Caviar (Joey Putnam) through middle fractions of :57.4 and 1:27 to win by a length. Anthony Lombardi owns the seven-time winner from 17 starts with now $75,502 in his coffers. Atlee Bender drove Big Christian to victory.
Miller's hat trick on the day started with a win by Frankie Frankie (1:51.4; $7.20) and was completed with a win by Shes A Lady (1:54.2; $4.76).
Racing resumes at Oak Grove on Tuesday with a stakes extravaganza. Eight $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes finals will go to post for each sex and gait of Standardbred on the 11-race card. The card also features a $2,002.98 carryover in the Super High 5 (in Race 5) and a $1,103.82 carryover in the Late Pick 5 (starting in Race 6). First-race post time at Oak Grove is 3 p.m CDT.
(Oak Grove)