It was opening day at Plainridge Park on Monday (April 10) and a large trackside crowd was on hand to welcome back harness racing action to Massachusetts.
The card had features for both young and aged horses and solid efforts were witnessed in all those events.
There were three $17,500 contests – two on the pace and one on the trot – for non-winners of two to five races lifetime.
The first pace went to HP Lis Shadow (Mitchell Cushing), who got away fifth while William Hanover (Drew Campbell) and Boozer (Bruce Ranger) traded leads twice to the half. Boozer finally seated on the front and opened up two lengths to three-quarters while HP Lis Shadow followed weak cover heading into the last turn. Cushing then took matters into his own hands, tipping three-deep coming off the last bend and started a relentless charge down the lane that saw HP Lis Shadow catch Boozer by a head at the light in 1:53.
It was a new lifetime mark for HP Lis Shadow ($3.80), who is owned by A Harris Racing and trained by Andrew Harris.
Cushing ended the day with two wins.
The second pace went to the Massachusetts-bred Galactic Storm (Jimmy Whittemore), who got away fourth at the quarter before brushing to the lead by the half. From there, Galactic Storm swelled up on the point and opened a gapped advantage and he paced a swift :27.4 third quarter. Galactic Storm then rounded the turn and pulled away to a 5-1/2 length win in a lifetime best effort of 1:53.2.
Galactic Storm ($4.40) is owned by his driver and trained by Marissa Chadbourne.
Finally in the trot, Skyway Professor (John Beckwith) pulled a major upset as he wired the field at 21-1.
Beckwith left sharply with Skyway Professor and took the lead in solid fashion. From there, he stepped off fractions of :28, :58.4 and 1:27 while Lindy On Stage (Wally Watson) stalked from the pocket and Timantix (Matty Athearn) drew near heading into the last turn. As the race headed down the lane, Skyway Professor was still in charge ahead of the two-pronged attack of Timantix on the outside and Lindy On Stage near the pylons. As they both closed in, Skyway Professor checked out with a narrow victory in 1:56.3.
It was a season's best for Skyway Professor ($45) and his owner Mario Dessureault. Dennis Whittemore is the trainer.
The aged set had a $16,000 mid-level conditioned event for each gate and the husband and wife team of driver Shawn Gray and trainer Alicia Gray took them both.
First on the trot, Beantown Madness captured his third win of the year with a strong stretch drive. Shawn Gray settled in sixth from post three as Yonkers invader Pass Key (Jim Hardy) was a strong leader in a :58.3 half. At that point, Beantown Madness tipped out behind Northern Skyway (Mitchell Cushing) and followed that cover to the top of the final turn. There he pulled three-deep and rushed home under a line drive to win by a nose in a season's best 1:56.4. Beantown Madness ($6) is trained by Alicia Gray for Michael Goldberg Racing.
Later, Pammy Jo took the pace after leading at every station. Gray sent Pammy Jo to the front and grabbed the lead past the hard-fought :27.2 quarter. After cruising to the half unabated, Pammy Jo was then under pressure from Tonianne (Mitchell Cushing) up the backside and into the final turn. At the top of the stretch, Pammy Jo put some distance between herself and the rest of the field, opening up a two-length advantage as they headed towards the wire where she won by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:53. It was the first win of the year for Pammy Jo ($23.80), who is owned by her trainer, Alicia Gray.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday (April 13) at 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)