A three-week rest seemed to agree with B.C. bred four-year-old mare Side Piece, who returned to Plainridge Park to claim another win in the $27,397 Fillies and Mares Open Pace on Tuesday afternoon, May 14. 

Brett Beckwith got away fourth with even-money favourite Side Piece, winner of multiple Western Canada stakes over the past two years, while Magical Maya A (Larry Stalbaum) held the girls at bay with swift :26.1 and :54.4 splits. Side Piece pulled first-over in the second turn and looked Magical Maya A in the eye by the three-quarter pole. The two mares traded leads around the final bend before Side Piece finally put Magical Maya A aside. There was one last challenge from the tripping Racey Rach N (Mitchell Cushing), who tipped off cover and came with a rush as the wire approached. But it wasn’t enough to overtake Side Piece, who went on to a half-length victory in 1:50.4. The winning time was just two-fifths of a second off her lifetime mark, taken in her Plainridge debut last month. Magical Maya A finished 1-3/4 lengths behind in third.

The win was the second against Open competition at Plainridge in only three tries for Side Piece ($4), who is currently owned by Janie Kellogg and trained by Jackie Greene. The Shadow Play-Queen Otra mare is now five-for-nine on the year with 17 wins overall from 25 starts and $321,418 in purse earnings.

The win was the second of the day for Beckwith. 

In the secondary featured $21,918 conditioned distaff pace, Sweet Cheyanne and Shawn Gray got away fourth as Windsun Tiara (Matty Athearn) dictated snappy fractions of :26.1, :54.2 and 1:22 to three-quarters. It was there that Gray swung Sweet Cheyanne three-wide around the stalled cover of Quarrel (Bruce Ranger) and started to move closer to Windsun Tiara. As they headed down the lane, Sweet Cheyanne continued to reel in the leader and caught Windsun Tiara in the shadow of the wire by a nose in 1:51.4 to score her first win of the year in five attempts. Sweet Cheyanne ($6.80) is owned by Douglas Overhiser and trained by Alicia Gray. It was the second win of the day for both Shawn and Alicia Gray.  

Drivers Nick Graffam and Jimmy Hardy also had two winners apiece on Tuesday. 

Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday, May 16 with post time at 4 p.m. and the card will feature a $1,220 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 in race six. Also on Thursday is the $100,000 USD Bunker Hill Trot for three-year-olds; this Grand Circuit event is featured in the fifth race.

(With files from Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)