Nows The Moment made his 100th start a memorable one for his owner Sonya Mac Donald after winning his second straight $20,000 Open Handicap Trot at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 1). 

Nows The Moment took the lead off the gate and completely dominated. With the field in single file and the trailers just trying to keep up, Nows The Moment went fractions of :27, :56.4 and 1:25 heading into the last turn. When he got to the top of the stretch, he was gone and opened a 3-1/2-length margin while driver Kevin Switzer Jr. sat chilly winning in 1:53.2, tying his seasonal mark taken just last week. 

Nows The Moment visited the winner’s circle for the 29th time in his career for trainer Allison Mac Donald. He paid $3.80 to win.

Switzer ended the day with a driving hat trick Thursday.

With the Massachusetts Sire Stakes just over three weeks away, many Mass-breds are in the process of tuning for the lucrative series. A good example of that came in Thursday’s $11,500 first-race conditioned event, where three-year-old trotting filly Grits N Trix (Trixton-Bourbon N Grits) made a first-over move from fourth at the half before pulling away down the lane to win by three-quarter lengths in 1:57.1. It was the fourth straight victory for the sister of 2013 Hambletonian winner Royalty For Life and owners Ray Campbell Jr. and Al Ross, who also bred the winner. 

The Massachusetts Sire Stakes start on Sunday (Sept. 25) and feature three preliminaries before the final. This year — to be eligible for the finals — horses must compete in at least two of those three legs. This will provide larger fields and more competition in the weeks leading up to Monday (Oct. 24) when the best horses from all eight divisions will compete for the top prize.

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon (Sept. 5) with post time at 2 p.m. (EDT).

(Plainridge Park)