Dinges hits Grand Slam, Later Dudes too strong

OAK GROVE, Ky. — Driver Trace Tetrick blasted to the top and built a sizeable enough cushion to survive on the lead and win the $30,000 Open at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Monday afternoon (March 31).

Leaving from post 5, Tetrick cleared pylon-starter Congressional (driven by Verlin Yoder) past a :27 first quarter and soon held a wide lead once Congressional lost stride by the grandstand for the first time.

Tip Top Cat (Brandon Bates) chased to tighten from an inherited pocket while stablemate Later Dudes (Sweet Lou) cruised to a :55 half and to three-quarters in 1:23.1.

Though holding a decent lead spinning for home, Tetrick implored Later Dudes to carry his speed through the stretch and he held just enough to finish three-quarter lengths better than hard-grinding Tip Top Cat in second.

This Kit Rocks (Joey Putnam) rallied for third, another three lengths behind, and Low Rider (Marvin Luna) rallied from last for fourth.

An 8-year-old gelding by Sweet Lou, Later Dudes has now won 35 races from 162 starts and earned $692,675. Ron Burke trains the gelding for his Burke Racing Stable LLC and co-owner Weaver Bruscemi LLC. He paid $8.38 to win.

Trainer Tony Dinges vaulted to the top of the standings on Monday with a training grand slam on the 12-race card. He scored early guiding 15-1 shot My Playmate GB (1:57.3 winning mile; $33.44 to win) to a virtual pillar-to-post win before returning to the winner’s circle a few races later after capitalizing from a pocket ride with Legacy’s Casanova (2:00.3; $5.66). Dinges landed another off-the-speed win later on the card when delivering Checkonwilliam GB (1:54.2; $7.06) to victory before handing the lines to Trace Tetrick in the following race, where he won off a pocket trip with Laneside Logic GB (1:56; $6.50).

Racing continues at Oak Grove on Tuesday (April 1) with a 12-race card. First-race post time at Oak Grove is 1:45 p.m. (CDT). For more information on Oak Grove, visit Oak Grove Racing website.

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

From Oak Grove Racing