Oak Grove, KY — Quick early fractions aided Tom’s Muscle’s closing efforts as driver Josert Fonseca timed his attack with the Peggy Grant homebred to perfection, scoring a 10-1 upset in the $30,000 Open Handicap Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday (May 26) in a 1:52.3 mile.
Fonseca settled Tom’s Muscle into sixth off the car while Jigger DK (driven by Todd McCarthy) hustled up the rim to grab the lead through a :26.1 first quarter. Once activated, Jigger DK carried unrelenting speed to a :53.3 half in an attempt to leave his rivals wavering. Tom’s Muscle began advancing through the pack up the backstretch as the tempo softened and loomed to within lengths of the leader passing three-quarters in 1:22.3. Jigger DK tried to dig in through the final quarter, but Tom’s Muscle persisted on the outside in the stretch to surge to a three-quarter-length victory.
Little Expensive (Tyler Miller) followed the winner’s cover to take third. DP Freedoms Chrome (Marcus Miller) emerged off a pylon trip for fourth.
A 5-year-old gelding by Long Tom-Trot Time, Tom’s Muscle won his third race from eight starts this season and his 10th race from 49 starts in his career, earning $190,956 for owner, trainer and breeder Peggy Grant. He paid $23.36 to win.
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Monday (June 1) featuring the second preliminary of Kentucky Sire Stakes for 4-year-olds. First-race post time is 1:10 p.m. (CDT). For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com.