Lather Up mare goes quick winning $100,000 KYSS Final

OAK GROVE, Ky. — Favorites Bath Bomb (Lather Up) and Women Layer (Sweet Lou) successfully scored sweeps of the Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) series with wins in their respective $100,000 finals on the Sunday (May 11) card at Oak Grove, which featured four $100,000 KYSS finals for harness racing 4-year-olds.

Bath Bomb (driven by Andy McCarthy) opened the 13-race card with a powerful 1:49.4 lifetime-best win as the 1-4 chalk in the final for 4-year-old pacing mares. McCarthy circled the favorite to the point after a :26 first quarter set by Asweetbeachhere (Todd McCarthy) and carried her speed through the remainder. She clocked a :54.3 half and 1:23 three-quarters and held firm in a final-quarter sprint to stave off the pocket pop of Asweetbeachhere by a half length while Peace Talks (Dexter Dunn) gave chase and settled for third. Capytreach (Peter Wrenn) finished seven lengths farther back in fourth.

BATH BOMB REPLAY

A daughter of Lather Up, Bath Bomb won her seventh race from 19 starts and has now earned $219,360 for owner Morrison Racing Stables. Per Engblom trains the $2.66 winner.

Later in the card, Women Layer (Todd McCarthy) persevered from post 8 to clock a virtually pillar-to-post win in the final for 4-year-old pacing males. Women Layer crossed to the point through a :26.1 first quarter to pocket stablemate Lou Hill (Dexter Dunn), who followed intently from the pocket through middle fractions of :54.1 and 1:21.3.

Women Layer drifted off the bottom corner but maintained his advantage upon straightening, even while Lou Hill mustered a rally in late stretch, to win by a length in 1:49.2 — a lifetime best.

WOMEN LAYER REPLAY

Better Is Nice (Andy McCarthy) gave chase in third and Copperfield (Marcus Miller) closed for fourth.

Virgil Morgan Jr. trains Women Layer, a gelding by Sweet Lou, for owners Let It Ride Stables, Douglas Overhiser, Jeff Fought Racing and Larry Wills. He won his 15th race from 24 starts, has now earned $486,079 and paid $4.10 to win.

Woman Of Passion (Todd McCarthy), denied a series sweep by a neck loss in the first preliminary, crushed her competition in the final for 4-year-old trotting mares with a 1:53.4 romp.

McCarthy grabbed the top with Woman Of Passion past a :27 first quarter and coasted through a :56.4 half and 1:25.1 three-quarters while Spy Coast (Dexter Dunn) attempted an attack from first-over. But Woman Of Passion gradually drew away through the final turn and sailed through the stretch to win by 5-1/4 lengths while Black Velvet As (Tony Hall) rallied from second over for second. Spy Coast settled for third and Pisco Sour (Andy McCarthy) completed the superfecta.

WOMEN OF PASSION REPLAY

Carter Pinske trains Woman Of Passion, a homebred daughter of Walner for Al Libfeld. She won her 13th race from 27 starts, has now earned $414,499 and paid $2.92 to win.

Ways N Means (Andy McCarthy) pulled the lone upset of the four KYSS finals with an 8-1 victory in the final for 4-year-old trotting males.

McCarthy elected to climb into the action first up, settling in sixth through a :27.1 first quarter while 9-5 second choice Bargain (Dexter Dunn) swooped forward to the lead. Bargain took over control to a :56.4 half as Ways N Means inched along the rim to the backside and drew to within a length of the lead nearing three-quarters in 1:26. Once drawing to equal terms with Bargain, Ways N Means zipped forward and scooted away in the stretch drive to register a 2-1/4-length win in 1:53.4 chased by Ordained (Trace Tetrick), who followed the winner’s cover for second. Bargain faded to third and Mister Dad (Todd McCarthy) took fourth.

WAYS N MEANS REPLAY

A gelding by Muscle Mass trained by Paula Wellwood, Ways N Means won his seventh race from 28 starts and has now earned $239,328 for owners Dreamvill Stable and Harbor Racing Stable LLC. He returned $18.40 to win.

A pair of Open Handicap Pace events highlighted the stakes undercard. Tip Top Cat (David Miller, 1:49.3; $6.54) stormed from last to first to win in the $33,000 Open Handicap Pace while Kobe’s Gigi (Marvin Luna, 1:51.1; $4.76) rolled down the road to win in the $33,000 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace. Ron Burke trains Tip Top Cat, a 5-year-old gelding by Always B Miki, for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Frank Canzone and Larry Karr. Walter Haynes Jr. trains Kobe’s Gigi, a 7-year-old mare by JK Endofanera, for owners Leander Schwartz and Black And White Stable.

Racing continues at Oak Grove on Monday (May 12) with a 13-race card headlined by the $33,000 Open Trot, carded as Race 6. First-race post time shifts at Oak Grove to 1:25 p.m. (CDT) for the remainder of the meet, with an exception of a 1:45 p.m. (CDT) post time for the Sunday, May 25 card. For more information on Oak Grove, visit oakgrovegaming.com.

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

From Oak Grove Racing