When Acushla Machree N won the featured $34,722 Open Handicap for fillies and mares at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Sept. 8), it gave Gretchen Athearn the 1,000th training win of her career.

Athearn is a native of Exeter, New Hampshire who started learning about horse care and harness racing from Dana W. Childs when she was 14 years old. Then after high school, she attended the Equine Studies Program at SUNY Morrisville and began applying what she learned there, in the real world of racing at tracks in New England.  

Athearn’s first training win came in 1994 with a nine-year-old pacing gelding named To Bad Honey, who opened up seven lengths at the wire to claim a 2:02.3 victory at Scarborough Downs for purse of $1,000. Today, Athearn competes in all the top classes at Plainridge Park and has developed and campaigned a litany of horses that have made headlines throughout the industry.  

For her career to date, Athearn has 1,000 wins, 1,177 seconds and 1,156 thirds from 7,679 starts, with earnings just over $9.4 million and a .266 lifetime UTR. She had career high wins (68) and earnings ($1,355,854) in 2025, the year she won her first training title at Plainridge Park.  

This year at Plainridge, Athearn is currently tied for the training lead with 33 wins and has the third best earning totals at the meet.

Athearn also has a family loaded with racing acumen, with husband Mark and sons Matty and Kyle all driving and training.  

In the race that produced the milestone, Acushla Machree N (Mitchell Cushing) got away mid-pack as Mrs Cheese (Drew Monti) parked Surfinmakescents A (Larry Stalbaum) to the quarter in :26. Surfinmakescents A crossed over and took the lead at that point and got to the half in :54 flat.

As they paced onto the backstretch, Intothemysticmoon (Nick Graffam) pulled first-over and Acushla Machree N followed in step. Positions remained unchanged to three-quarters where Mrs Cheese regained the lead from Surfinmakescents A and Acushla Machree N swung three-wide around the stalled Intothemysticmoon. Acushla Machree N continued to gain ground and by the top of the stretch, had forged a short lead ahead of another closer, Royally Hot (Mike Oosting). The two mares then locked up in a stretch-long sprint that saw Acushla Machree N win by a neck in 1:50.4.

It was the sixth win of the year for Acushla Machree N ($5.20). The seven-year-old daughter of Vincent-Annie Morva is owned by Ray Campbell Jr. of Belchertown, MA.

There was also a $26,389 upper-level conditioned pace on the card that was won by Virtual Horizon (Drew Monti), who sat third behind Courageous Warrior (Matty Athearn), as he set a lively pace of :26.4 and :54.4 to the half. As the race moved towards three-quarters, Virtual Horizon moved to the outside and paced into second before the last turn. From there, Virtual Horizon and Courageous Warrior matched strides through the final bend to the top of the stretch where Virtual Horizon took the lead and held off a wall of horses in deep stretch to win in 1:51.

It was the fourth win of the year for Virtual Horizon ($5.20). The six-year-old Vertical Horizon-Saucy B gelding is owned by Kellogg Racing of Queensbury, NY, and trained by Jackie Greene.

Mike Oosting and Bruce Ranger both had two wins during the day while 11 different trainers each won one race apiece.

Racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Sept. 10) at 2 p.m. 

(With files from The Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)