A fairly rare situation occurred at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon, Oct. 21 when a pair of full brothers, Sea Can and Cruising Tom, finished first and second, respectively, in the $34,722 Winners-Over trotting feature.
Snowpiercer (Brett Beckwith) battled Sidd Finch (Drew Campbell) for the lead while Sea Can (Nick Graffam), who also left, dropped in second as they passed the quarter in :27.1. Positions remained unchanged to the half, but as the field made its way up the backstretch, Marquis Lafayette (Bruce Ranger) pulled from third to challenge the leader while Cruising Tom (Matty Athearn) followed from fifth.
Snowpiercer continued to lead and crossed three-quarters in 1:24.3 as Sea Can and Marquis Lafayette trotted even in second. As they spun around the turn, Marquis Lafayette made a break, leaving Sea Can alone to engage Snowpiercer at the top of the lane with Cruising Tom right behind them. Heading to the line, Sea Can was strong and trotted clear of Snowpiercer and then held off the late-closing Cruising Tom to win in 1:53.4.
The victory was the ninth of the year from 21 starts for Sea Can ($16.40), who is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi and trained by Joe Nelson.
The five-year-old Sea Can and the four-year-old Cruising Tom are both by Muscle Mass out of SOS Respect and were both bred by Terry Devos in Ontario. Both trotters have also taken lifetime marks at Plainridge Park this year.
The secondary featured $20,833 conditioned pace was won by Hungryforvictory (Jimmy Hardy), who cut fractions of :27.1, :56.2 and 1:24 before turning for home and holding off a late-closing Sweet Street Lou (Kevin Switzer Jr.) by a quarter length in a lifetime best-tying 1:52.3.
Hungryforvictory ($27.20) is owned by David and Christine Thibault, John Marini Jr. and his driver Hardy. Jolene Andrews trains the winner.
Four drivers scored doubles on Monday including Matty Athearn, Brett Beckwith, Nick Graffam and Drew Monti.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. and there will be a $6,927 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race six.
The $1.28 million USD finals of the Massachusetts Breeders Stakes will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Plainridge.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)