Oak Grove, KY — John MacDonald motored 10-1 shot No Lou Zing for the lead and kept chugging on the engine to claim the $30,000 Open Pace on Monday (April 15) at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel.

No Lou Zing straightened and strode strongly to a 1-1/2 length victory in 1:50.2. Mark Herron photo.

Leaving from post three, No Lou Zing seized control to a :26 first quarter from Shamwow (Brandon Bates), who settled into the pocket. No Lou Zing kept his peers to his rear with a hot tempo in the middle sections, clicking a :54.4 half and three-quarters in 1:22 while only enduring pressure up the backside.

MacDonald then fended all threats through the lane as No Lou Zing straightened and strode strongly to a 1-1/2 length victory in 1:50.2. Muskateer Hanover (Tony Hall) persisted from a first-over push for second with This Kit Rocks (Joey Putnam) swooping from last for third and Shamwow holding fourth.

No Lou Zing won his 26th race from 89 starts and has now banked $882,087. Wayne Oke trains the 7-year-old Sweet Lou gelding for owner A Piece Of The Action LLC. He paid $23.18 to win.

In the co-featured $30,000 Fillies & Mares Open Pace, Southwind Bella prevailed as the 4-5 chalk with a front-stepping power effort to clock a 1:52.1 mile.

Driver Devon Tharps floated Southwind Bella off the wings from post seven and grabbed the lead from Msdinosis Blugrass (Pat Curtin) past a :27.2 first quarter. From there, Southwind Bella widened her lead through splits of :57.4 and 1:25.1 to then coast home a 3-1/2 length victor over Msdinosis Blugrass. Better Double Flip (Lewayne Miller) just missed and settled for third off a pylon ride.

Ron Burke trains Southwind Bella, a 4-year-old mare by Huntsville, for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Bridgette Jablonsky and Lombardo / Green Racing. She won her 10th race from 27 tries, has now earned $265,039 and paid $3.96 to win.

Live racing resumes at Oak Grove on Tuesday (April 16) with a 12-race card starting at 3 p.m. (CDT) and the feature carded as race six, a $30,000 Open Trot. Free program pages for every race day, courtesy of TrackMaster, are available on the Oak Grove Racing website.