Oak Grove, KY — Following a vicious rally into second at the top class in his seasonal bow last week, Little Expensive took the point and held his ground as the second choice in the betting to notch a 1:53.2 victory in the $30,000 Open Handicap Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday (April 21).
Driver Tyler Miller motored Little Expensive to the fore out of post 6 and cleared DP Freedoms Chrome (driven by Marcus Miller) passing a :27.2 first quarter. Tyler Miller then settled his charge into rhythm while cruising to a breather in a :57.1 half and braced for challengers into the backstretch. Cecil Hanover (Devon Tharps), the 3-2 favorite, mounted a first-over bid out of fourth with long shot Tom’s Muscle (Josert Fonseca) in tow and gradually marched towards the leader nearing three-quarters in 1:24.4. Pressure continued to build spinning for home with Cecil Hanover persisting on the rim and Tom’s Muscle mustering sharp momentum late, but Little Expensive responded with grit and extended for the line to secure victory by three-quarters of a length. Tom’s Muscle took second from Cecil Hanover while DP Freedoms Chrome finished fourth.
A 6-year-old gelding by Muscle Hill, Little Expensive collected his 19th win from 64 starts and has now earned $384,066 for owners Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen and VIP Internet Stable LLC. The Julie Miller trainee paid $5.48 to win.
Atlee Bender, the leading driver at Oak Grove in 2023 and 2024, continued building steam into the 2026 meeting with five victories on the Tuesday card. He found the winner’s circle with Degas (1:55 winning mile; $6 to win), Ponda Eagle (1:53.3; $7.66), Sherocks Sherolls A (1:54.4; $8.22), Whiskey Wow (1:54.4; $3.46) and International Law (1:56.2; $2.98).
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Monday (April 27) with a loaded day of stakes racing. Monday’s card features the opening preliminary of the Kentucky Sire Stakes series for 4-year-olds of each sex and gait as well as prep races for trotting sophomores ahead of the Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Oak Grove Trotting Oaks eliminations, which take place following the Kentucky Derby on Monday, May 4. All of these stakes then culminate through the Oak Grove Festival of Racing to a special day of harness racing on Preakness Day, Saturday, May 16, headlined by the inaugural $500,000 Oak Grove Trotting Derby and $300,000 Oak Grove Trotting Oaks.
First-race post time on Monday at Oak Grove is 1:10 p.m. (CDT).