Oak Grove, KY — Despite starting from the second tier, Golden Wall As pushed his way to the middle of the pack and ground through the far turn to down the pacesetter and deliver as the 3-2 favorite in the $24,000 Open Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel on Monday (May 15).

Golden Wall As put his neck in front to grab the spoils in a 1:52.3 mile. Mark Herron photo.

Stride The Hill (Kevin Wallis) left fastest for the lead, but yielded command through a :27 first quarter to It’s A Herbie (Verlin Yoder). Golden Wall As (Tony Hall) followed Pilgrims Image (Matt Krueger) off the gate before that one jumped off stride, then landed in fourth and waited until after a :55.1 half to begin his march along the rim.

Golden Wall As crept closer to It’s A Herbie up the backstretch as the leader stayed firm on the point to clock three-quarters in 1:23.3. Yoder called upon It’s A Herbie for more as the pressure mounted from Golden Wall As into the stretch. Though It’s A Herbie responded to the challenge at the inside, Hall sat motionless in the sulky as Golden Wall As put his neck in front to grab the spoils in a 1:52.3 mile. Stride The Hill slipped through the inside for third and Perlucky (Kyle Husted) rallied for fourth.

Anette Lorentzon trains Golden Wall As, a 4-year-old stallion by Walner, for owner-breeder ACL Stuteri AB and co-owner Kjell Johansson. The win was his eighth from 28 career starts and added to his earnings now worth $255,130. He paid $5.06 to win.

Mini series continued at Oak Grove, with three classifications hitting the track for their first rounds of action. They included three $12,000 trotting divisions for non-winners of two races. Mohatu As (Hall, 1:56; $4.32) went gate-to-wire in the first division while driver Atlee Bender orchestrated a pair of upsets from off the speed in the other splits with Partner Dolan (1:54.4; $40.58) and Spell Goodlookin (1:55.2; $18.80).

There were two $12,000 pacing divisions for non-winners of two races. Western Era (Bender, 1:52; $2.56) went down the road in the first division while Iamamanatheart (Geremy Bobbitt, 1:53.4; $20.92) pulled the pocket and pounced to score in the other division.

Also there were two $8,000 pacing divisions for non-winners of $1,500 in their last four starts. Pike Rock (Randy Crisler, 1:55.1; $10.58) fired from post eight to win in near coast-to-coast fashion and Ideal Ace (Stephen White, 1:53.3; $3.84) claimed victory in the other division by popping the pocket and grabbing the lead into the stretch.

Live racing returns to Oak Grove on Sunday (May 21) with ample betting opportunities. Sunday’s card will feature a double carryover in the Early Pick-5 totaling $1,197.45 and a carryover in the Early Pick-4 of $1,262.53. The Early Pick-5 begins in race one and the Early Pick-4 in race three. The Early Pick-5 at Oak Grove features a 15 percent takeout.

First-race post time every race day at Oak Grove is 3 p.m. (CDT).