Despite day-long rains that left the track rated as sloppy, For Once Inmy Life turned in a career effort with a gate-to-wire performance that yielded a victory in the featured $34,247 Open Handicap Pace at Plainridge Park on Thursday, May 14.

For Once Inmy Life, driven by Bruce Ranger, rushed to the lead and then controlled the race with ease. With Blazing Home N (Larry Stalbaum) travelling in the garden spot, For Once Inmy Life blitzed fractions of :26.1, :54.2 and 1:21.3 before taking his one-length lead around the final turn. The domination continued at the top of the stretch, where For Once Inmy Life swelled up and bolted to the line 2-1/4 lengths clear in 1:49.1, home in :27.3. Blazing Home N was second, followed by Mydadsaid A (Jacob Cutting).

The time was a new mark for the winner and fell a fifth of a second shy of the track record for aged pacing geldings. The win was the fifth in the last six starts posted by For Once Inmy Life ($4.20), who remains a perfect three-for-three in the Open class at Plainridge this year. The six-year-old gelded son of Downbytheseaside-Flyme To The Moon is owned by Winters Racing Stable and trained by Cory Stratton. He is 19-for-64 lifetime.

In the $30,137 Open II Handicap Pace undercard event, Borninlockdown Gb (Kevin Switzer Jr.) took over a quarter of the mile to get the front, but when he did, the race was over. He cleared past the quarter in :27, reached the half in :54.4, and edged away to a three-length lead at three-quarters in 1:22.2. Down the lane, Borninlockdown Gb held Rockin On Venus (Shawn Gray) and Alex Having Fun (Matty Athearn) at bay under mild Switzer urging and sealed the deal with a 2-3/4-length win in a seasonal-best 1:50.3. Rockin On Venus was second over Alex Having Fun.

Borninlockdown Gb ($4) has two wins in his last three starts, both in the Plainridge Open II, and is now 20-for-65 lifetime. Joe Nelson trains the six-year-old Foreclosure N-Judy Hall gelding for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

Drivers Jacob Cutting, Nick Graffam, Bruce Ranger and Kevin Switzer Jr. and trainer Jimmy Nickerson all registered two wins each on the 11-race card.

Racing resumes at Plainridge on Saturday, May 16 at 4 p.m. with a card featuring the Grade 3 Bunker Hill Trot. There will be a $9,786 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta wager in the sixth race.

(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)