Oak Grove Open Trot to Golden Wall As

OAK GROVE, KY — Despite starting from the second tier, Golden Wall As (Walner) pushed his way to the middle of the pack and ground through the far turn to down the tempo setter and deliver as the 3-2 harness racing favorite in the $24,000 Open Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming and Hotel on Monday (May 15).

Stride The Hill (driven by Kevin Wallis) left fastest for the lead, but yielded command through a :27 first quarter to It’s A Herbie (Verlin Yoder). Golden Wall As (Tony Hall), following Pilgrims Image (Matt Krueger) off the gate before that one jumped off stride, landed in fourth and waited until after a :55.1 half to begin his march along the rim.

Golden Wall As crept closer It’s A Herbie up the backstretch as the leader stayed firm on the point to clock three-quarters in 1:23.3. Yoder called upon It’s A Herbie for more as the pressure mounted from Golden Wall As into the stretch. Though It’s A Herbie responded to the challenge at the inside, Hall sat motionless in the sulky as a few taps of the whip were all Golden Wall As needed to stick his neck in front and grab the spoils in a 1:52.3 mile. Stride The Hill slipped through the inside for third and Perlucky (Kyle Husted) rallied for fourth.

Anette Lorentzon trains Golden Wall As, a 4-year-old stallion, for owner-breeder ACL Stuteri AB and co-owner Kjell Johansson. The win was his eighth from 28 starts and has added onto his earnings now worth $255,130. He paid $5.06 to win.

Miniseries abound continued at Oak Grove, with three classifications hitting the track for their first rounds of action. They included:

• three $12,000 trotting divisions for non-winners of 2 races. Mohatu As (Tony Hall, 1:56 winning mile; $4.32 to win) went gate to wire in the first division while driver Atlee Bender orchestrated a pair of upsets from off the speed in the other splits with Partner Dolan (1:54.4; $40.58) and Spell Goodlookin (1:55.2; $18.80),
• two $12,000 pacing divisions for non-winners of 2 races. Western Era (Atlee Bender, 1:52; $2.56) went down the road in the first division while Iamamanatheart (Geremy Bobbitt, 1:53.4; $20.92) pulled pocket and pounced to score in the other division,
• and two $8,000 pacing divisions for non-winners of $1,500 in their last four starts. Pike Rock (Randy Crisler, 1:55.1; $10.58) fired from post 8 to win in near coast-to-coast fashion and Ideal Ace (Stephen White, 1:53.3; $3.84) claimed victory in the other division by popping pocket and grabbing the lead into the stretch.

Live racing returns to Oak Grove on Sunday (May 21) with ample betting opportunities. Sunday’s card will feature a double carryover in the Early Pick 5 totalling $1,197.45 and a carryover in the Early Pick 4 of $1,262.53. The Early Pick 5 begins in Race 1 and the Early Pick 4 in Race 3. The Early Pick 5 at Oak Grove features a 15 per cent takeout.

First-race post time every race day at Oak Grove is 3 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. EDT).

For complete race results, click here.

From Oak Grove Racing Media