Delayed Hanover strayed from The Meadowlands for a week in lieu of an afternoon at Plainridge Park on Thursday, May 30 and ended up leaving with a win and a new seasonal mark of 1:52 after touring the facility in the meet’s fastest trotting of the year.
Jay Randall left from post four with Delayed Hanover in the top $27,397 Open Handicap Trot and took a quick and easy two-length lead to the quarter in :27.2. With the field single file in chase, the pair then set a moderate tone of :56 to the half before Marquis Lafayette (Bruce Ranger) made a first-over move at five-eighths and advanced to within a length of the leader at the three-quarters. But one length was as close as anyone would get as Randall fed Delayed Hanover some line and allowed him to close it out. With the whip on his shoulder and his hands in his lap, Randall was just a passenger as Delayed Hanover swelled up and bolted down the lane. Delayed Hanover put space between himself and the field with every stride and ran away with a 4-1/2-length victory in an eye-popping 1:52.
Owned by Reid Wissner and trained by Kevin McDermott, Delayed Hanover ($3.80) notched his first win in only seven 2024 starts.
In the secondary featured $23,288 conditioned trot, Wild Way (Bruce Ranger) yielded the lead to Cruising Tom (Matty Athearn) past the quarter and then sat the trip as Pembroke Honcho (Heath Campbell) pushed the issue with the leader from five-eighths to the top of the stretch. That’s where Ranger dipped inside Cruising Tom and out-brushed him to the line by a head in 1:56.
Owned by William Hartt, Wild Way ($7.60) recorded his fourth win of the year. Lance Hudson trains the winner.
Bruce Ranger ended the day with a driving grand slam while Domenico Cecere tallied two training wins, making each the leader in their respective category for Thursday.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday, June 3 with post time at 4 p.m. and the card will feature a $1,519 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 in race six.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)