Shipping in fresh off a win at Yonkers Raceway last week, Betterlatethnnever moved up in class and showed his as he beat a stellar field of pacers in the $17,500 Winners Over feature race at Plainridge Park on Friday afternoon (November 20).
Betterlatethnnever (Kevin Switzer Jr.) got away seventh off the gate while the heavily favoured Hudson Phil (Jay Randall) marched off a stiff :26.1 first quarter before getting to the half in :54. JK Will Power (Mitchell Cushing) and Paternity Suit A (Drew Monti) came in the outer flow past that station but Hudson Phil was still clear on the lead.
At the three-quarters, Betterlatethnnever was locked in sixth on the pylons while horses tipped three-deep around the last turn, trying to catch Hudson Phil, who had opened up 3-3/4 lengths. But as the horses fanned heading down the stretch, Switzer found an opening and unleashed a torrid stretch drive by Betterlatethnnever, who split horses in deep stretch and hit the wire first by a head in 1:51.
The win was the second in a row and sixth of the year for Betterlatethnnever ($16.60) and it pushed his earnings to $57,567 for owners Nickerson Racing and David Glazer of Westmount, Que.
Switzer Jr. ended the day with two wins on the card along with Mitchell Cushing and Matty Athearn. Gretchen Athearn led all trainers with two wins as well.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday (November 23), kicking off the final week of the live harness meet. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Plainridge will be dark on Thursday (November 26), however, that card of racing will be conducted on Wednesday (November 25) instead. Closing day is Friday (November 27). Post time for all three days is 1 p.m.
(With files from Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)