Sparks fly – surprises at the Oak Grove Open; incident in the final – US Trotting News

Oak Grove, Kentucky – Sparks Fly, a colt trained by Atlee Bender and Erv Miller, held on despite a first-round charge to secure a narrow victory in the $40,000 Open Trot at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel on Tuesday afternoon (July 2).

Starting from post one, Bender found himself in third place with Sparks Fly, while Pioneer As (Marvin Luna) climbed to take the lead from Oh Look Magic (Devon Tharps) after a first quarter of :27. Pioneer As then managed a half time of :56.3 and rode unchallenged in the lead until Bender cleverly overtook Sparks Fly on the backstretch.

Sparks Fly then raced to Pioneer As in 1:25.3, reaching three-quarters of the way before fighting his way into the homestretch to a narrow lead. Pioneer As continued to fight his way inside and Amigo Volo (Joey Putnam) rolled out of cover and was late to the attack. Sparks Fly reached the bar in time to hold off Amigo Volo’s final charge by a nose in a 1:54 mile, while Pioneer As settled for third and Oh Look Magic settled for fourth.

Sparks Fly, a four-year-old gelding by Bar Hopping, has now won nine races in 25 starts and earned $156,950 for owners Ervin Miller Stable Inc. and Douglas Overhiser. His winning price was $16.06.

The final at Oak Grove was declared void because an accident occurred just past the three-quarter pole. All horses involved in the accident stood up after the accident. Several riders – Devon Tharps, Stephen White, Marvin Luna, Cordarius Stewart and Atlee Bender – were loaded into ambulances. Zyler Maxwell, Joey Putnam and Pat Curtin all stood up after the accident and continued on foot. Oak Grove will provide any necessary updates on the accident as information becomes available.

Live racing continues at Oak Grove on Sunday (July 7) with a 15-race Kentucky Sire Stakes program beginning at 3 p.m. (CDT). Oak Grove also switches to a three-day Sunday-Tuesday racing schedule beginning July 7 and running through the conclusion of the meet. Free program pages for each day of racing, courtesy of TrackMaster, are available on the Oak Grove Racing website (https://www.oakgrovegaming.com/racing/handicapping-resources/).