Although the $300,000 USD Grade 2 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot and $150,000 USD Grade 3 Clara Barton Distaff Pace will draw the bulk of the attention at Plainridge Park Sunday, July 19, the annual $75,000 USD Bert Beckwith Memorial Pace is sure to provide one of the better Open paces found at any track this entire weekend, and offers great value for the betting dollar.

The probable post-time favourite will be For Once Inmy Life, who has yet to be challenged at The Ridge this year. He has raced in the Open five times so far and five times he came away a convincing winner with a combined 12-length total margin of victory and 1:48.4 mark, that also happens to be his lifetime best. Bruce Ranger will drive for trainer Cory Stratton.

For Once Inmy Life is a perfect example of horses for courses, but how much more could he go here if he was really pushed?

The answer may lie in his two recent Grand Circuit starts at The Meadowlands where he was race timed in 1:47.4 and 1:47.1, respectively, and finished third in the Grade 2 William Haughton Memorial, only 1-1/4-lengths behind double millionaire Bythemissal, whose 1:47 win is the third fastest mile of the year in North America.

This may not be the Haughton; however, the Beckwith is stacked this year and wouldn’t be an easy win for any horse.

Soho Spectre A (driver Tim Tetrick/trainer Enrico Robinson) came to Plainridge in June and ripped off a career-best 1:48.2 mile and re-wrote the record book for aged pacing geldings in the process. He has since come right back to win again a week later in 1:51 over an off-track and in very inclement weather conditions.

Jackson Cooper (Brett Beckwith/Matty Medieros) cut the mile in Soho Spectre A’s record mile while finishing second, only a neck behind, and pacing as fast as the winner. He too has come back to win again in 1:50.3 in a four-year-old Open and looks primed to flaunt his speed once again here.

Catalpa Rescue A (Dexter Dunn/Scott Blackler) has been living at Yonkers, but he made his way to the Cape two weeks ago and chased For Once Inmy Life around The Ridge oval in his lifetime effort, before finishing second in 1:49.2. After getting stretched out over the big track once already, he may very well be more acclimated for this start than he was in the first.

Binge On Yankee (Yannick Gingras/Mark Eaton) is more than capable of upsetting the order of finish. He is coming off a year in which he paced in 1:49 flat at Scioto Downs and earned $400,000 before coming to Massachusetts in September. This year, he has already won at Plainridge in 1:49.4 by over three lengths and now picks up a U.S. Hall of Fame driver this outing.

Mydadsaid A (Drew Monti/Jackie Greene) and Two Fold Cold (Dave Ingraham/Kelly Case) have been chasing For Once Inmy Life whenever he has visited Plainridge, and have finished close on a couple occasions. They are both raced timed in 1:49 and change this year and each drew inside posts for this race, along with Still Rollin N (Todd McCarthy/Amanda Kelley), who comes in off an impressive first North American win and lifetime mark of 1:50. He too paced in 1:49.2 in a third-place finish three weeks ago behind Soho Spectre A’s record mile.

This race has a lot of early speed and features several excellent closers. That means action throughout the entire mile, giving the horse that’s in the best position coming home the best shot of making the winning move.

The Bert Beckwith Memorial is the first leg of the Spirit Pick-3 wager that includes the Clara Barton Distaff Pace and the Spirit of Massachusetts Trot and takes place in races six, seven and eight.

Post time for the first race on Spirit Sunday is 2 p.m.

(Plainridge Park; photo of For Once Inmy Life from a previous win)