Canadian-owned trotter Its Academic and pacing mare Sylvia Hanover were the stars of Spirit Of Massachusetts day on Sunday, July 21 at Plainridge Park.

After two of the best trotters in North America hooked up in an epic fourth quarter match-up, Its Academic successfully defended his title in the $342,466 Spirit Of Massachusetts Trot, winning in 1:51.2 with regular reinsman David Miller in the bike for trainer Ron Burke and owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont.

After an early tussle off the gate, Logan Park (Doug McNair) pushed through inside for the lead through the turn during a blistering :25.4 opening quarter. With Chapercraz (Yannick Gingras) in the pocket and Take All Comers (Todd McCarthy) sitting third, Logan Park kept the mile moving with a :54.1 half. At that station, Miller called on Its Academic and the pair rolled out from fourth and made their way towards the leader.

Its Academic drew alongside Logan Park at three-quarters in 1:22.2 and it was on from there between the 2023 Dan Patch and O'Brien Older Trotters of the Year. Logan Park and Its Academic matched strides around the final bend and into the stretch, but neither had gotten a clear advantage. However, as they moved into deep stretch, Its Academic swelled up and trotted away from Logan Park while keeping his favoured stablemate Chapercraz at bay to win by a length.

Its Academic joins Manchego as the only two-time and back-to-back winners of the Spirit of Massachusetts Trot. 

The seven-year-old Uncle Peter-Annapolis stallion earned his first win of the season in just two starts and now has 31 career victories with his bankroll swelling over $2.5 million.

He paid $8 to win as the 3-1 third choice.

Reigning Horse of the Year Sylvia Hanover also scored her first seasonal victory, just missing the divisional track record in the $136,986 Clara Barton Distaff Pace on Spirit of Massachusetts day.

Tim Tetrick picked up the catch-drive on the four-year-old Always B Miki-Shyaway mare, winning in 1:48.2 for trainer Mark Steacy and owner Hudson Standardbred Stable of Hudson, Que. The winning time was just one-fifth of a second off Sylvia Hanover's lifetime mark and the divisional track record.

Always B Naughty (Yannick Gingras) grabbed the early lead while Beach Cowgirl (Dave Miller) pushed the issue from the outside as they tripped the quarter in :26.3. But almost immediately after they passed that station, Tetrick had Sylvia Hanover out and pacing three-wide from third and the mare took the lead in front of the grandstand and hit the half in :53.3. 

As they moved out of turn two and onto the backstretch, Talk Curdy To Me (Todd McCarthy) quickly moved into second while Grace Hill (Doug McNair) followed and dropped in third as they hit three-quarters in 1:21.1. Sylvia Hanover maintained a two-length lead around that final bend, dug in for the homestretch and hit the wire on top by 1-3/4 lengths. Grace Hill finished second over Talk Curdy To Me.

Sylvia Hanover has now earned in excess of $1.9 million lifetime on the strength of her 19 wins. 

Tetrick is now five-for-five in the Clara Barton. He also won the race twice with both Shartin N and Lyons Sentinel.  

Sylvia Hanover paid $2.40 to win as the heavily backed favourite.

The card also featured the $102,740 Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational Pace that was won by Big Skewy N, who made a first-over move from third past the half to take the lead by three-quarters for Drew Monti. From there, Big Skewy N maintained his lead around the turn and into the stretch where he paced away to a two-length win in 1:49.1, tying his lifetime mark. Heaven On High N (Larry Stalbaum) finished second and Torrid Saint A (Matthew Athearn) was third over the favourite, Fourever Boy (Brett Beckwith).

Big Skewy N, who paid $5.20 to win, is trained by Scott Blackler and owned by Arrhythmic LLC of New York.

Plainridge Park's 2024 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot card turned out to be the most successful at the windows in the seven-year history of the event. The $334,389 USD overall handle was the highest total ever realized for a Spirit Day card and the $48,137 USD on-track take was the second highest behind only the 2019 program. 

Steve O’Toole, Director of Racing at Plainridge Park, was very happy with those numbers and was quick to credit those who made it happen. 

“We have a very loyal customer base at Plainridge and they came out in force on a beautiful summer day to bet on a very competitive card of racing put together by race secretary Paul Verrette," said O'Toole. "I want to thank my entire staff for their hard work in planning and logistics leading up to Sunday in order to put on this first class event. We are already looking forward to next year.”

Live harness racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday, July 22 with post time at 4 p.m.  

(With files from Plainridge Park)