Sophomores duel in $100,000 Early Sire Stakes finals

Oak Grove, KY — On Monday (July 18) Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel hosted four $100,000 early sire stakes finals and four $25,000 consolations for 3-year-old harness racing trotters and pacers. Kentucky champion Dont Fence Me In (Captaintreacherous-Mystery Game) was the only favorite to add another victory to her resume after winning the 3-year-old filly pace in 1:51.1.

Dont Fence Me In and Andrew McCarthy were third behind Msdinosis Blugrass (Todd Warren) through an opening quarter mile in :28. McCarthy moved the filly to pass Sake Bomb (Yannick Gingras) and the leader prior to the half-mile marker.

Dont Fence Me In clicked off fractions of :56.2 and 1:23.4 prior to hitting the wire. Msdinosis Blugrass was second and Sake Bomb third.

The filly is owned by Riverview Racing, Alagna Racing, Steven Head and Pryde Stables. She was bred by Riverview Racing and is trained by Tony Alagna.

Dont Fence Me In has a record of 19-8-5-3 and has earned $439,784. She paid $2.20 to win.

Gaelihill (Muscle Hill-Gaelic) and Yannick Gingras turned in a wire-to-wire performance to win the final for 3-year-old male trotters. Gigondas (Dexter Dunn) was second and Golden Wall As (Tony Hall), the favorite, was third. Divisional leader Ducasse was scratched.

Trained by Trond Smedshammer, Gaelihill stopped the teletimer in 1:54.1 for the second win of his career. The colt now has a record of 10-2-2-3 and has earned $72,706.

Gaelihill is owned by Purple Haze Stables. The gelding was bred by Steve Stewart and Martti S. Ala-seppala.

He paid $16 to win.

Grandeur (Love You-Caress The Senses) and Dunn took control at the three-quarter pole and trotted home in 1:53.3 to win the final for sophomore trotting fillies. Blue Bayou Deo (John MacDonald) was second and Criquette Hall (Gingras) was third.

The filly is trained by Bob Stewart for owner/breeder Carter Duer.

Grandeur has a resume of 9-4-0-0 and is a perfect three-for-three in 2022. She is a full sibling to Rattle My Cage ($286,349) who won the $150,000 Graduate final for his age and gait at The Meadowlands on July 9. He was second behind champion Bella Bellini in the $432,000 Hambletonian Maturity over the same oval on July 16.

Grandeur paid $31.60.

Wolftrax (Betting Line) and Trace Tetrick overhauled Vicious (A. McCarthy) in the stretch drive to triumph in the final for 3-year-old male pacers in 1:51.1. Rocknroll Gold (Dunn) was second and River Ness (Gingras) was third.

The final time was a new lifetime mark for Wolftrax, whose dam is O’Brien Award winner Cathedra Dot Com. The colt is a half-sibling to Simply Business (Rocknroll Hanover, $1.05 million).

Trained by Erv Miller, Wolftrax now sports a resume of 15-3-4-2 and boosted his bankroll to $126,200 for owners Douglas Overhiser and Rocco Ruffolo.

Woltrax was bred by Steve Stewart, T L P Stable, James Daut and D’Elegance Stable IX. He paid $11 to win.

Pappardelle (Wishing Stone-Long Island Tea) and Trevor Smith won the $25,000 consolation for 3-year-old male trotters in 1:55.1. Pappardelle is trained by Chris Beaver and is owned by the Delaware Group, Equinex Racing Corporation and Joe Sbrocco. He was bred by Steve Stewart, Black Creek Farm and Paul Kelley Racing Stable. The colt has now earned $72,828 and has a record of 18-4-2-1. He paid $7 to win.

Smith and Beaver also scored in the consolation for 3-year-old trotting fillies with Disclosure (Trixton-Susie’s Magic). The filly came home in 1:54.2 to win by a nose. Like Pappardelle, the filly is owned by the Delaware Group, Equinex Racing Racing Corporation and Joe Sbrocco. She was bred by William Jones and Steve Stewart. The filly paid $3.40 to win.

Devon Tharps and Taurasi (Racing Hill-Voluminous) won the consolation for 3-year-old male trotters in 1.50. Trained by Alagna for owners M T Pockets Stables and Victoria Howard, Taurasi was bred by his owners.

The gelding now has a record of 3-2-0-0 and has banked $18,300. He paid $5 to win.

Captains Princess (Captaintreacherous-Evelix Am) and A. McCarthy took the consolation for 3-year-old pacing fillies in 1:51.4. The mare set a new lifetime mark and now has a record of 16-3-0-2. Captains Princess has amassed $82,483 in purse money.

The filly is trained by Alagna and is owned by her conditioner, Brad Grant, Al Libfield and Marvin Katz. Captains Princess was bred by Alagna Racing, Brad Grant and Melvin Segal.

On Tuesday (July 19) Oak Grove will host four $150,000 finals for the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred series o trotters and pacers.

Racing at Oak Grove is conducted on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with a post time of 3 p.m. CST. For more information on Kentucky’s Standardbred programs and updated point standings for sire stakes and other series events, please click here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Kimberly French, for the Kentucky Harness Association