Oak Grove, KY – After bettors expressed frequent affection in the pools for the $1 Pick-4 at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel, the southern Kentucky track lowered the takeout on the wager for the 2026 meet and immediately showed improved returns.
The Tuesday Pick-4 pool saw nearly double the handle compared to opening day and went the way of one lucky ticket holder for $2,784.82 after mapping a sequence that had winners of 6-1, 1-5, 9-1 and 17-1 odds. And because the takeout on the Pick-4 this meet was reduced to just 15 percent, nearly $300 more was put into the payoff of the correct combination.
Tony Centonze Photo.
Only three favorites found the winner’s circle on the 13-race card on Tuesday (March 25), and the card saw a 3.8 percent bump in handle year over year with one more race contested this year compared to last.
Ronnie Wrenn Jr., a new face to the Oak Grove driving colony, led all reinsmen for the week with a pair of driving hat tricks on Monday and Tuesday. Brandon Bates bagged four wins through the week while Wyatt Avenatti, Andy Shetler and last year’s leading driver Marvin Luna each scored two wins. Ron Burke led all trainers with three wins — all piloted by Ronnie Wrenn Jr. — while five different trainers managed doubles in the week: David Avenatti, Tony Dinges, Walter Haynes Jr., Andy Shetler and Melanie Wrenn. Of note, Avenatti won with all but one of his starters this week while Melanie Wrenn, sending a pair of odds-on favorites to the gate, won with both her starters.
Oak Grove will host harness racing on a Monday-Tuesday rotation with a single exception for the $500,000 Oak Grove Trotting Derby card, which will take place on Preakness Day, Saturday, May 16. Stakes racing at Oak Grove will begin on Monday, April 27 with the opening preliminary of the Kentucky Sires Stakes for 4-year-olds.
Live racing at Oak Grove resumes on Monday (March 30) with first-race post time at 1:10 p.m. (CDT).