Oak Grove, KY — A day after Brett MacDonald came to town and crossed the 2,000-win plateau, Brandon Bates entered the Tuesday (April 8) card at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel a few wins shy of the milestone himself. But a driving hat trick coming down to the last race on the day lifted Bates into the 2,000-win club.
Bates first etched a tally on the board with a surprise in the fifth race, rallying past tired rivals to score a 14-1 upset with Jill Brown trainee Mach Diesel in a 1:55.2 mile. A few races later, Bates went on a Tuesday afternoon jog behind near-millionaire mare Railee Something to win the feature on the day, the $30,000 Open Trot, by open lengths in 1:55.3.
After those two wins, Bates sat just one away from 2,000. He and Marcus Miller engaged in a fierce stretch battle in the 10th race, where Bates implored even-money favorite Possum Holler to the line to just miss overhauling James Stiltner II pupil Fightforyourright by a scant nose in a 1:54.1 mile.
And after breaking stride in the 11th, Bates emerged from a shuffle in the finale to reel in tiring runaway leader Crius N Rock and slide clear to a 1-3/4 length win in 1:55.2 for trainer Trey Brinson.
Bates, a 49-year-old native of Ohio, began his career modestly in 1993, but gathered steam starting in 2017. Through his career, Bates has been a driving force at harness tracks across the Midwest, frequenting Oak Grove from his homebase at Harrah’s Hoosier Park in Indiana. Bates currently is a top-10 driver at Hoosier Park while a stellar beginning to the 2025 season here at Oak Grove currently sees him second on the leaderboard locally to, coincidentally, Hoosier’s perennial driving leader Trace Tetrick. In his career, Bates has banked over $20 million in purses.