Daylong inclement weather did not stop the top mares on the grounds from turning in one of the fastest miles of the Plainridge Park meet on Thursday, Nov. 21 after Turn The Page N won the $35,211 Fillies and Mares Open Pace.

Swedish Starlet N (Matty Athearn) took the field to the quarter in :26.2 before Arizona (Brett Beckwith) popped the pocket to take control in front of the stands and then got the girls to the half in :54.3. That’s where Turn The Page N (Ron Cushing) pulled from fourth and floated up the outside as the race proceeded to three-quarters in 1:22.1. Turn The Page N hooked up with Arizona in the last turn and the pair paced together to the top of the stretch. As they headed to the line, Arizona maintained her lead into deep stretch, until Turn The Page N edged to the front and eventually won by a half length in 1:50.2. 

The win was the eighth in North America for Turn The Page N ($2.40) who is owned by her driver Cushing, in partnership with Kevin Sywyk. Heidi Cushing trains the winner. 

Other members of the Cushing clan also had a good day, headed by Mitchell Cushing, who was the top driver on Thursday after he grand slammed the card with a natural hat trick in races four, five and six. Cushing won with JK Will Power (1:53.2, $5.20), Windydayatthebeach (1:54.3, $4.00), Cruizin The Night (1:53.4, $19.20) and Alonso (1:57.3, $5.60), who is trained by Mike Cushing. Mitchell Cushing also had two seconds (one of which was trained by Charlene Cushing) and a third from his nine drives giving him a one day UDR of .716.

Live harness Rracing resumes at Plainridge Park on Friday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. and there will be a $3,024 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race six. 

There are only four live racing days left in the 2024 meet that wraps up on Friday (Nov. 29). Please note that next week, racing will be held on Monday (Nov. 25), Tuesday (Nov. 26), Wednesday (Nov. 27) and Friday (Nov. 29), with Thursday (Nov. 28) being dark in observance of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. 

(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)