$30,000 co-feature Opens held at Oak Grove Racing

OAK GROVE, KY — Harness racing driver John MacDonald motored 10-1 shot No Lou Zing (Sweet Lou) 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.

Leaving from post 3, No Lou Zing seized control to a :26 first quarter from Shamwow (driven by 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. Rocks Shining Star (Devon Tharps), the 9-5 favorite, took back and got locked at the pegs, finishing seventh.

No Lou Zing won his 26th race from 89 starts and has now banked $882,087. Wayne Oke trains the 7-year-old 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 (Huntsville) 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 7 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 and Illusion Seelster (John MacDonald) took fourth.

Ron Burke trains Southwind Bella, a 4-year-old mare, 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 6, a $30,000 Open Trot. Free program pages for every race day, courtesy of TrackMaster, are available on the Oak Grove Racing website by clicking here.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From Oak Grove Racing