Oak Grove, KY – The record-breaking season of harness racing at Oak Grove just recently passed the halfway point of the 2026 meet and the Southwest Kentucky track continues to show tremendous year-over-year gains in handle.
With Monday’s (May 25) Memorial Day card run alongside many special days of racing from major Thoroughbred outlets, Oak Grove successfully stayed within the shuffle of horseplayers’ action and posted nearly double the handle year-over-year compared to the 2025 Memorial Day card.
Tuesday’s (May 26) 14-race card similarly showed year-over-year gains with nearly 50 percent more bet compared to the same card from 2025. Oak Grove’s handle remains up roughly 28 percent year-over-year past the midpoint of the meet and up 20 percent when exempting the additional day of racing this year for the inaugural Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Oak Grove Trotting Oaks.
Alongside the strong wagering momentum in 2026, the speedy track surface and world-class competition coming through Oak Grove this year has spurred several track records before the heat and mug of summer truly arrives.
In total, six track record miles have been recorded through the meet with several beating marks that stood for two years or longer. Aged trotting gelding Whiskey Wow recently added his name to the record roster with the all-time fastest trotting mile ever at Oak Grove when he took a Kentucky Sire Stakes prelim in 1:50.3, beating the previous trotting record and mark for aged trotting geldings of 1:50.4 set in 2024 by Dover In Motion.
Oak Grove Trotting Derby Day, a pair of track records were matched with Spencer Hanover’s win in the marquee race matching the 1:51.3 mark for 3-year-old trotting colts set in the eliminations a week prior by eventual Derby runner-up Endurance, who bested the previous best of 1:52 recorded in 2025 by Yannick G Kemp.
Aged pacing mare Three Times Bettor also matched the track record of 1:48.3, set in 2022 by Blue Diamond Eyes, with her win in the Kentucky Sire Stakes final. The track record for 3-year-old trotting fillies set two years ago was also lowered this year by Naked And Famous’s sensational 1:51.2 win in her Oak Grove Trotting Oaks elimination, and the track record for aged trotting mares set three years ago got matched that same day when Yo Tillie won a Kentucky Sire Stakes preliminary in 1:51.4.
The $1 Pick 4-on Monday produced a pleasant surprise for horseplayers, who piled enough cash through the windows to create the highest non-carryover pool for that wager of the meet so far. And those who played and nailed the correct combination were stoutly rewarded as the sequence, with no race having a field larger than seven horses, produced winners at odds of 1-9, 3-1, 6-1 and 9-2 for a return of $644.74, just over three times better than the dollar parlay.
Dexter Dunn, with his five wins on Monday, led all drivers on the week followed by Todd McCarthy with four wins. Andy Shetler and Atlee Bender each collected three wins on the week and four drivers notched doubles: Josert Fonseca, Devon Tharps, Wyatt Avenatti and Ronnie Wrenn Jr. Atlee Bender holds the top spot in the driving standings with 32 wins on the meet followed by Marcus Miller in second with 23 wins, Ronnie Wrenn Jr. in third with 21 wins and Brandon Bates in fourth with 17 wins.
Erv Miller led all trainers on the week with three victories and now sits tied atop the standings with Ron Burke, who won two races on the week, at 17 wins each for the meet. Wayne Oke, also doubling on the week, currently sits third with 13 victories and Tony Dinges ranks fourth with 12 wins. Trainer Carter Pinske also recorded a double on the week.
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Monday (June 1) with a card featuring the second preliminary of Kentucky Sire Stakes for 4-year-olds. For more information on racing at Oak Grove, including free past performance pages and race-by-race analysis from Ray Cotolo, visit oakgrovegaming.com.