Oak Grove, KY — Breeders Crown runner-up Charleston invades Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel for Tuesday’s (June 27) second round of the Kentucky Sire Stakes for 3-year-olds, as do a number of harness racing’s premier trainers and drivers.

Charleston, who most recently rallied for second behind Sylvia Hanover in the $319,200 Fan Hanover, on June 17 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, has been made the 4-5 morning line favorite in the lone 3-year-old filly pace, carded as the first of 13 races on the program. A six-time winner with $415,647 in earnings, Charleston will retain the services of driver Tim Tetrick for trainer Brett Pelling and will start from the outermost post in the seven-horse field. Her main competition comes from Diamondsnpearls (David Miller, post one), who won the first leg of the series in 1:51.2. Miller will drive for trainer Nancy Takter.

The 3-year-old filly trot also boasts a prohibitive favorite, as Mambacita delivered a decisive 1:54.2 drubbing to her eight rivals in round one, on June 13. Yannick Gingras returns to drive the Tony Alagna trainee from the pole in a field of eight, and the pair have been installed the 6-5 favorite. A five-time winner, Mambacita was second to Bond in last year’s Goldsmith Maid and has banked $542,861.

Fourteen sophomore male trotters were split into two seven-horse fields, carded as races three and seven, each led by a first-round winner. Mohatu As, who rode the pocket to a 1:54.1 win on June 13, is the 2-1 early choice in race three, and has gained the services of driver Tyler Smith for trainer Anette Lorentzon. In the seventh race, Sparks Fly (Atlee Bender, post two) — the faster of the two first-round winners by virtue of a 1:54 score — is the 3-1 second choice, behind Julie Miller trainee Espresso (Andy Miller, post one), the 2-1 morning line favorite after winning six races and banking $243,400 in his rookie season.

First-round winners Admiral Hill and A Cool Moment likewise dodge each other in the 3-year-old male pace (races five and eight). Admiral Hill, whom Tetrick will drive for Chris Ryder from post seven in the first division, is the 7-2 third choice behind a pair of Woodbine invaders in Tip Top Cat (Gingras, post five, 5-2) and Kopi Luwak (David Miller, post one, 3-1) — both of whom started in North America Cup eliminations earlier in the month but failed to qualify for the final. The second division is led by A Cool Moment (Joey Putnam, post six, 3-1), who is now four-for-six in his career after a gritty 1:52.2 win in round one, and Larceny (David Miller, post eight, 5-2), who posed a stern threat to A Cool Moment up the backstretch as the 1-6 favorite in the first round.

The top eight point earners after the second preliminary round will be eligible to compete in their respective $100,000 series finals on July 4.

Nationally-renowned drivers Dexter Dunn, Yannick Gingras, David Miller, Andy Miller and Tim Tetrick are slated to compete on the 13-race card, as are trainers Tony Alagna, Jenn Bongiorno, Erv Miller, Julie Miller, Brett Pelling, Chris Ryder and Nancy Takter.

For those playing Oak Grove, full-card handicapping resources are available on the track’s website.

First post is 3 p.m. (CDT).