Nows The Moment Sets Plainridge Record

Published: May 31, 2018 08:21 pm EDT

Nows The Moment stole the show during Thursday’s all-trot card when he captured the $20,000 Highland Light Late Closer trot final at Plainridge Park and set a new track standard in the process.

Mike Stevenson left with Nows The Moment and led every step of the way. With the best view, they toured the facility in fractions of :27.2, :58.2 and 1:26 before turning for home. With no challengers in sight, Now's The Moment stretched out to a four-length advantage and won in 1:55.1.

The winning time was not only a new lifetime mark for Nows The Moment; it was also a new Plainridge Park track record for three-year-old trotting geldings.

It was the second consecutive win for Nows The Moment ($2.60) who is owned by Sonya Mac Donald and trained by Allison Mac Donald.

The $20,000 final of the Ralph Waldo Emerson trot final was won by the Massachusetts-bred Pirate, who scored in a sharp off-the-pace finish.

Manssive (Ron Cushing) out-left The Lindy Treaty (Shawn Gray) and trotted strong on the lead for three-quarters of a mile until Jericho (Joe Di Stefano) pushed the issue at that station. Pirate (Drew Campbell) who was seventh at the time, tipped three-deep around a stagnant outer flow and was gaining momentum around the far turn. By the head of the stretch Pirate was four-wide and under a full head of steam, eventually engaging and then passing Jericho to win by a length in 1:55.3.

It was the third win of the year for Pirate ($27.20) who is owned by Kathy Beaman and Earl Beaman and trained by Ivan Davies.

In the $14,000 Winners-Over trot, Buff (Greg Merton) got to the lead past the quarter and was never headed from there. After putting away a challenge from Platoon Seelster (Ron Cushing) by the head of the lane, Buff responded to mild urging from Merton and held off a late rally from Golden Tate (Nick Graffam) to win by one-half length in 1:54.3, which was a new seasonal mark.

Buff ($4.00) now has four wins this year for owners Bill Reepmeyer LLC, Jackie Rousse Stables LLC, Frank Witz and Jill Witz and trainer Jackie Greene.

Greg Merton and Drew Campbell each had three winners on Thursday’s card.

Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.

(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)

Tags
Have something to say about this? Log in or create an account to post a comment.