The age-old adage says it’s not how you start that’s important, but how well you finish. And to be frank, Ranaldi validated that with living proof after sweeping the field in the $19,178 starter allowance featured pace at Plainridge Park on Friday, June 13.
Ranaldi and driver Drew Campbell got away ninth and 12 lengths behind Danger Zone (Matty Athearn), who led the field to the quarter in :27.4. But immediately after that station, Colt Bennett (Mitchell Cushing) quickly brushed from fourth to first and was three lengths in front at the half in :55.3.
The field broke up into two rows with a four-horse outer flow led by A Fair Ol Dance N (Nick Graffam) and tailed by Ranaldi, who was still ninth by eight lengths and in an impossible spot.
When the field moved into the final turn, Colt Bennett was still pacing strongly on the point with his three-length advantage. But behind him, horses were coming from everywhere, three and four-wide. And widest of them all was Ranaldi, who Campbell had six-deep and just shy of the 495 on-ramp.
Ranaldi was still seventh and six lengths off the front, but pacing furiously as they closed for home. Colt Bennett continued to hold on to a tenuous advantage and was looking for the line, but Ranadli marched down the centre of the track and got there in time to snap him at the beam and win by a neck in 1:53.1, missing his lifetime mark by only one-fifth of a second. Meadowbrook Flash (Kevin Switzer Jr.) was the runner-up with Colt Bennett third.
Upsetting at 14-1 odds, Ranaldi ($30.60) earned his 26th career win and lifted his earnings to $229,307. Ranaldi is trained by Dakota Niles and owned by Derryl Niles Jr. of St. Albans, Maine.
And as a result of the winning longshot Ranaldi, there was an instant jackpot payoff in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race six when the combination of 8-7-6-2-1 returned $8,636 for the 20-cent wager.
Live harness racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday, June 16 at 4 p.m.
(With files from Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)