Oak Grove kicks off inaugural meet

Oak Grove Racing & Gaming kicked off their inaugural meet Friday (October 18). The first horse to cross the finish line was Dee Rocks, a four year old mare trained and driven by Jamaica Patton for owners Ronald Phillips and John Carver of Illinois. The mare went to the front from post 6 and lead the majority of the race in fractions of 27.2, 56.4, and 1:25.1 before stopping the clock in 1:54.1, winning by a neck in the fastest mile of the day. 

Top: Dee Rocks is joined in the winners circle by Oak Grove representatives
after winning the first race of the inaugural meet on Friday, October 18, 2019.
Photo: Amanda Stephens

Bottom: Dee Rocks walking into the winners circle with the Oak Grove motel
and grandstand construction visible in the background.

Trainer Richard Bertrand talks with driver Jared Seekman
before sending Bet Together out for race 2.
Photo: Amanda Stephens

The remaining six races were competitive fields with all but one race being won by less than a length. The seven race card saw several drivers enter the winners circle. Jamaica Patton went on to win another and Ridge Warren joined him in winning two races. Tyler Shehan, Tom Tetrick, and Mickey Pryor each had a win on the opening card.

Seven races will go to the gate on Saturday, featuring an open trot and fillies and mares open pace. Ten races are carded for Sunday, featuring the open pace.

An artist rendering of the $150 million
Oak Grove Racing & Gaming facility
expected to be completed the first half of 2020.
Photo: R2Architects

The new harness track in Oak Grove, KY, on the Tennessee border in western Kentucky, is owned by WKY Development, a joint-venture of Churchill Downs and minority owner Keeneland. The Oak Grove facility is the first new track to open in Kentucky since Thunder Ridge in 1994. Thunder Ridge ran its last meet in 2017. The first phase of construction at Oak Grove, including the harness race course, overnight stable facility, and race-day paddock stable facility was completed this month. The second phase of the project, scheduled to open in the first half of 2020, will feature up to 1,500 historical horse racing machines, a 128-room hotel, a grandstand with seating capacity for 1,200 and event space for indoor events, a 3,000-person capacity outdoor amphitheater and stage, an equestrian center including indoor and outdoor arenas, as well as a 30-pad RV park.

Oak Grove will be the fifth facility with instant racing machines in the Commonwealth, the second in a lucrative Nashville, TN market. Live racing continues every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through November 10th with a 2:05p post time in October and 1:05p post time in November. Watch and wager at www.twinspires.com.

For more renderings and information visit R2Architects.