After two consecutive third-place finishes in the track’s top class, Westbeach found solace in class relief and went coast to coast in the $20,000 fillies and mares conditioned pace, which was the feature at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (July 27). 

Bruce Ranger sent the post time favourite, Westbeach, off the gate and to the lead in a :26.2 quarter and then continued on to a :54.4 half while Wolverina (Nick Graffam) followed in the pocket. A three-horse outer flow formed heading up the backstretch led by Sheikh Yabooty N (Brett Beckwith) two-wide and Quarrel (Jay Randall), who was three-deep. Despite the pressure, Westbeach remained unfazed and opened up a 1-1/2 length lead at three-quarters. Around the last turn, Quarrel kept coming and moved into second heading down the lane, but Westbeach surfed to the line under a high-line by Ranger to win by a length in 1:51.4. 

It was the third victory of the year for Westbeach ($4.80), who is owned by William Hartt and trained by Ken Koch. 

There were also two $18,500 conditioned paces that produced impressive miles. 

In the first, Paternity Suit A (Matty Athearn) sat second behind Ideal Funding N (Jay Randall) while Adriano Hanover (Kevin Switzer Jr.) was parked outside, pushing wicked early fractions of :26.3 and :53.4. That battle continued almost to three-quarters where Adriano Hanover started to fade. Ideal Funding N rounded the last turn and took a two-length lead into the stretch. But Athearn shook Paternity Suit A loose and he flew down the lane to collar Ideal Funding N while holding off a fast-closing Black Hawk Joe A (Larry Stalbaum) to win by a head in 1:51, which was his seasonal mark. 

Paternity Suit A ($4.60) is owned by Tim Bojarski and Tony Gruppo, and is trained by Jimmy Nickerson. 

Athearn ended the day with three driving wins, two of which were trained by Nickerson. 

Then later, JKs Champ (Brett Beckwith) got his first win in the last two years and took a lifetime mark in the process. Leaving from post four, JKs Champ went to the front and set fractions of :26, :54.1 and 1:22.2 while cruising ahead by two lengths. That gap widened at the top of the stretch where Beckwith sat chilly as JKs Champ simply cruised home on top by four in 1:51.1. 

JKs Champ ($3.20) is owned by Robert Rodrigues and trained by Larry Stalbaum. 

Beckwith and Stalbaum each had three winners in their respective categories during the afternoon. 

Due to lightning and inclement weather conditions, races 10 and 11 were cancelled on Thursday. 

Live harness racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday, July 31 at 4 p.m. and there will be a $4,807 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta wager in race six.

(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)