Oak Grove, KY — While a pair of Open events on the pace headline Monday’s (March 30) 12-race program at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel, this week’s main harness racing event in the Bluegrass State is a Tuesday (March 31) showdown between a pair of trotters who have enjoyed recent success in Indiana.
Ponda Jet, a 34-time winner who concluded 2025 with five consecutive wins, including a 1:51.3 score in the $70,000 Indiana Sires Stakes for older male trotters, has been installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite in this week’s $30,000 Open Handicap Trot, which has been carded as the seventh of 13 races on the Tuesday program. The 6-year-old Dover Dan gelding makes his seasonal debut off a 1:54.4 qualifier at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, and regular driver Kyle Wilfong makes the trek to Oak Grove to handle the lines for trainer Jay Hochstetler from post 8.
Drink Up Drink Up, who won a pair of Hoosier Opens this month before parrying a late charge from My Man Peter to win the first Open Trot of the Oak Grove meet, seeks to extend his current win streak to four. Trainer Walter Haynes Jr. again calls on Brandon Bates to drive the 6-year-old Trixton gelding, who is the 7-2 second choice from post 7.
East Coast invader Cecil Hanover, who registered top-level wins at both Yonkers and Pocono in six starts to date this season, is the 9-2 third choice from post 5, with Devon Tharps aboard for trainer Per Engblom.
Monday’s $30,000 Open Handicap Pace, carded as the sixth of 12 races, sees Ron Burke trainees Tip Top Cat (post 6, Ronnie Wrenn Jr. to drive) and Captain Arturovico (post 4, Marcus Miller) look to build off their second- and third-place finishes, respectively, to Charlie May in last week’s top pacing event. Admiral Hill (post 5, Atlee Bender), is the 5-2 third choice for Engblom after rallying to a top-level win at Pocono on March 14. The co-featured $25,000 Open 2 Pace goes as the eighth race and pins mares against the males including the winner of last week’s $30,000 Fillies and Mares Open Yankee B Something (post 5, Geremy Bobbitt) and the runner-up Tarshish (post 4, Marcus Miller). A Cool Moment (post 9, Joey Putnam) earned slight morning-line favoritism at 3-1 for Team Putnam off a fifth-place finish to Charlie May last week.
Oak Grove hosts live harness racing every Monday and Tuesday through July 14, with daily first post at 1:10 p.m. CT (2:10 p.m. ET). The lone deviation from that schedule will be for Oak Grove’s signature event, the $500,000 Oak Grove Trotting Derby, which headlines a special Saturday program on May 16. For more information, including free daily past performances and analysis from handicapper Ray Cotolo, visit oakgrovegaming.com.