Oak Grove, KY — After a record-breaking day of betting to open the 2026 Festival of Racing at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel, driver Atlee Bender strung together an impressive day on Tuesday (May 5) to find the winner’s circle seven times, besting the previous local record of six wins in a day, set by Todd McCarthy last year.
Bender, who is seeking to reclaim the driving title at Oak Grove after finishing a narrow second last year to Marvin Luna, made his first visit to the winner’s circle in race 3 after piloting Granite Ridge Lady ($5.82 to win) to a 1:56.1 victory in a $10,000 conditioned pace. A few races later, he stormed clear of his competition for a 5-1/2-length victory by James In Charge A ($4.54) in a 1:52.2 mile to win a $14,000 conditioned pace. Bender then went on a tear in the second half of the card, winning all but one of the last six races on the day. He landed a natural hat trick with D A Wicked Shine ($9.06), International Law ($5) and Miss Fancy Nancy ($3.02) and scored back-to-back wins in the final two races with Strangerinthenight ($4.60) and Tickled To Tears ($11.60). With a driving assignment in every one of the 14 races on Tuesday, Bender hit the board in 11 and finished no worse than fourth in 13 drives.
Marcus Miller, Bender’s brother-in-law, also had a good day on Tuesday with three driving wins in total, including a 1:50.3 victory in the $20,000 featured pace behind Todd Luther trainee Swaggy Cal. Miller sat a pocket trip behind Universal (driven by Bender) through a quick tempo of :26.3, :55.1 and 1:22.1 before pouncing out of the pocket and spurting clear for a 4-1/4-length win. Great Seats (Wyatt Avenatti) took second while Universal tired to third and Serious Miki (Joey Putnam), the 6-5 favorite, closed for fourth.
A 5-year-old gelding by Rockin Image-Pristine Beauty, Swaggy Cal won his second race from 11 starts this season and his 12th race from 52 starts in his career, earning $232,202 for owner Greg Luther Racing LLC. He paid $7.48 to win.
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Sunday (May 10) with a special Mother’s Day card featuring corgi races at the track. Oak Grove will host harness racing on Monday (May 11) and then return for the $1.5-million day of racing on Preakness Saturday (May 16) at a special post time of 12:45 p.m. (CDT).
First-race post time at Oak Grove on Sunday is 1:10 p.m. (CDT). For more information, visit oakgrovegaming.com, and to book your VIP experience for Oak Grove Trotting Derby Day, visit oakgrovederby.com.