After taking an early lead and receiving little resistance after that, Side Piece cruised to her third win of the year in the $34,722 Winners-Over Pace for fillies and mares at Plainridge Park on Tuesday, May 20.
Side Piece, driven by Drew Monti, took the lead in easy fashion and set moderate fractions of :27.1 and :56.3 to the half. As the race made its way up the backside, Waitforever N (Shawn Gray) headed an outer-flow and applied some pressure to the leader in the :27.4 third quarter. But Side Piece was up to the task and turned back the field as she closed out the race with another :27.4 blitz to the wire where she won by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:52.1. Waitforever N held for second, with Swedish Starlet N finishing third.
Side Piece ($3.40) is owned by Janie Kellogg and trained by Jackie Greene. The five-year-old daughter of Shadow Play-Queen Otra is now a 24-time winner in 56 career outings.
In the undercard $23,611 conditioned event for five-year-olds and under, Renaissance Deo and Ron Cushing got away fourth as Joy In Mudville (Matty Athearn) set the pace to the half in :55.3. Mach Seelster (Drew Monti) pulled first-over and had Renaissance Deo on his back. The top four paced in close quarters around the far turn where Renaissance Deo tipped three-deep heading into the stretch and pulled away to a 1-1/2-length win in 1:51.4. Mach Seelster finished second, with Bang Ah Uey (James Hardy) finishing third.
The win was the first of the year for Renaissance Deo ($6.60). The four-year-old gelded son of Lazarus N-Docdor Cameo is owned by Joshua Jay Graber and trained by Shane Tritton.
The Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta was hot in the day's ninth race. The single unique combination of 6-2-9-4-5 returned $3,117.50 for the 20-cent wager.
Shawn Gray led all drivers on Tuesday with a grand slam that included a natural hat trick in races two, three and four. Christie Collins was the top trainer with two wins of her own.
The regularly scheduled card of racing for Thursday, May 22 has been postponed due to the forecast Nor'easter that has been predicted to hit New England. As such, that card has been pushed back one day and racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Friday, May 23 at 4 p.m.
(With files from the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)