As the curtain came down on the 2021 harness racing meet at Plainridge Park on Friday afternoon (Nov. 26), Vesuvio Bi snuck in one more win after making a late dash to the wire in the $22,500 Winners-Over Trot.
Bruce Ranger left for position from post five with Vesuvio Bi and dropped in third behind Golden Kronos (Drew Monti), who bolted from post nine and grabbed the lead. After a :28.1 quarter and :58.1 half, Vesuvio Bi was ready to partake and tipped out first-over, motoring towards the front on the backstretch.
Golden Kronos still maintained the lead at three-quarters and around the far turn, but Vesuvio Bi eventually collared him at the top of the stretch. From there, Ranger fed him line and Vesuvio Bi trotted home in front by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:56.1.
The win was the seventh of the year for Vesuvio Bi ($10.40), owned by Michele Nelson and Eric Everett. Joe Nelson trains the winner.
Ranger doubled his win total for the day in the next race -- which was the $17,500 co-featured pace --- after he went wire-to-wire with Frontier Rollo ($4.80) in 1:53.2 and won by five lengths for the gelding's second straight victory. Frontier Rollo is owned by his trainer, Melissa Beckwith.
Ranger was also honoured at the track as the top dash-winning driver of the current meet. Ranger finished with 181 wins and $1,982,636 in earnings.
The trainer of the meet was Jimmy Nickerson, who garnered 60 wins and $797,640 in purses.
Live racing will return to Plainridge Park on April 11, 2022 with 110 racing dates that were assigned by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
(With files from Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)