Oak Grove, KY — Tyler Miller made a slick audible for the lead after the favorite broke stride to the quarter and powered on the muscle to a repeat win in the $30,000 Open Handicap Trot on Tuesday (May 19) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel with a 1:52.4 performance.
Miller floated towards the top out of post 7 with Little Expensive as 7-5 favorite Jigger DK (driven by Marvin Luna) pushed for the lead before bobbling off stride nearing a :27 first quarter. Once Jigger DK was taken wide on a gallop, Miller stayed wide with Little Expensive and brushed forward to take the lead from DP Freedoms Chrome (Marcus Miller) moving through the stretch first time. Little Expensive cleared before a :56.2 half and accelerated comfortably to three-quarters in 1:24.1 before holding his ground in the lane to notch a half-length win in 1:52.4 over DP Freedoms Chrome, who mounted an attack out of the pocket to ultimately finish second.
Woman Of Passion (Devon Tharps) saved ground to take third; Tom’s Muscle (Josert Fonseca) closed from last for fourth.
A 6-year-old gelding by Muscle Hill-Seviyorum, Little Expensive won his third race from five starts this season — all at the top class at Oak Grove — and his 21st race from 67 starts, earning $414,066 for owners Andy Miller Stable, Jean Goehlen and VIP Internet Stable LLC. Julie Miller trains the gelding who paid $6.94 to win.
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Monday (May 25) with the wiener dog races coming back to town. Monday’s card will also feature a double carryover into the Late Pick-5, which covers races 6-10, totaling $1,225.24. First-race post time is 1:10 p.m. (CDT). For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com.