Despite being handicapped with post eight, Marquis Lafayette (Bruce Range) went overland past the half and claimed the win in the $27,397 Open Handicap trotting feature at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (June 13).
Remember Titans (Brett Beckwith) was giant off the gate, leaving four wide from post seven to take the lead at the :27 quarter. Remember Titans then marched to the half in :56.2 before Marquis Lafayette moved first-up in the breeze and advanced towards the front heading up the backstretch. Marquis Lafayette then proceeded to run down Remember Titans in the final turn and cleared the front at the top of the stretch. He then held off a late closing Sidd Finch (Jimmy Hardy) to win by one-quarter length in 1:53.4, which was a new seasonal mark.
Marquis Lafayette ($6.60) is owned by Greathorse and trained by Domenico Cecere.
Ranger and Cecere also teamed up to win with Sforza (1:55.4, $3.80) before Ranger scored the hat trick in the final event with the Robert Kenney-trained Barmaid Express (1:58.4, $7.60).
In the $23,288 conditioned trot for six-year-olds and under, Enola (Nick Graffam) traded leads with Energysource (Bruce Ranger) before settling in second for the trip. Energysource then went :56.2 to the half and 1:24.3 to three-quarters, where Enola was out and challenging for the front once again while Cruising Tom (Matty Athearn) joined the fray three-deep. As they headed down the lane Energysource put up a good fight, but Enola methodically edged her way to the front and won by three-quarters of a length in 1:54, which established a new lifetime mark.
The victory was the seventh win of the year for Enola ($5.40) who is owned by Burke Racing and Weaver Bruscemi and trained by Joe Nelson.
There was one big winner in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race nine. The single unique winning combination of 1-5-4-2-6 returned $5,855,.22 for the 20-cent wager.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday (June 17) with post time at 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)