Plainridge Park hosted a stellar card of racing on Monday featuring three top paces, but the big news came from an undercard race for six-year-olds and younger.
No Quarter, who set the all-time track record of 1:49.2 for four-year-old pacing horses on Thursday (May 20), went one-fifth of a second faster in his win on Monday to break that mark again.
After settling in second off the gate, driver Greg Merton pulled No Quarter in a :26 first split and took the lead shortly after. When he cleared in front of the stands, he was in a world of his own. No Quarter hit the half in :54 before speeding away in a :26.4 third panel, hitting that station in 1:20.4 on top by 2-1/2. He further gapped the field around the last turn taking a five length lead into the stretch where he cruised home a winner by 4-1/4 in a lifetime best 1:49.1.
It was the third win in the last five starts for No Quarter ($2.60) who now boasts three sub-1:50 wins out of his seven lifetime tallies. The son of Somebeachsomewhere-Take That Hanover is owned by the Scheigert Racing Stable and is trained by Amanda Kelley.
The main event of the day was the $25,000 Open Handicap pace and top Open pacer Leonidas A shipped in to take the top prize.
Leonidas A (Shawn Gray) floated off the car fourth while My Pal Joe (Kevin Switzer Jr.) and Full Send (Drew Campbell) argued vehemently for the lead in :25.3. Once My Pal Joe cleared, Gray rushed Leonidas A to the front and took the field to the half in :53.4.
Major Leaguer (Nick Graffam) came first over at the five-eighths with Some Waratah A (Greg Merton) on his back and those two applied pressure to Leonidas A through the far turn. At the top of the stretch My Pal Joe vacated the garden spot along the pylons and made it a three-pronged attack. But Leonidas A remained on task and won by 1/2 length in a seasonal best 1:50.1.
This was the seventh win in nine starts this 2021 for Leonidas A ($3.20) who won four legs of the Borgota Pacing Series at Yonkers Raceway earlier this year. It was also the third win in three Plainridge starts as he was two-for-two at The Ridge in 2020.
Owned by the Jesmeral Stable and trained by Sheena McElhiney, Leonidas A also boasts 12 wins in only 18 starts and a mark of 1:48 since landing in North America last year along with earnings of $260,010 to show for his work. For his career overall, the six-year-old altered son of Mach Three-Rogers Joy has 31 wins and $373,548 in the bank.
In the $20,000 Winners-Over pace, Kiwi Tintin N (Greg Merton) got away fifth while JK Will Power (Drew Campbell) cut the early fractions. After still being locked in sixth at the half while Rock Diamonds N (Ron Cushing) led an outer flow, the road finally cleared at the five-eighths and Merton pulled Kiwi Tintin N third-over. Rock Diamonds N took the lead from JK Will Power at the three-quarters and opened up a two length advantage. But at the head of the stretch, Kiwi Tintin N tipped three deep and paced up a storm to win by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:51.1, which was a new lifetime mark.
Kiwi Tintin N ($16.20) is owned by Charles Harrison and Frederick Barthelmas and is trained by Scott Mongeon.
Finally the ladies took center stage in the $15,000 Winners-Over pace for fillies and mares and Thats Incredible (Drew Monti) lived up to her name. Leaving hard off the gate, Thats Incredible took the lead before yielding to the heavily favoured Take Abit Of Life (Bruce Ranger) past the :27 first quarter. The field stayed single file to the half and up the backstretch, where there were no challenges from behind. Take Abit Of Life continued to lead at the three-quarters when Monti tipped Thats Incredible and charged for the lead.
At the seven-eighths, Thats Incredible drew alongside Take Abit Of Life and the two mares paced furiously into the stretch. With little more than a whisker separating them, Thats Incredible and Take Abit Of Life shadowed each other in speed and gait all the way to the wire where a photo gave Thats Incredible a nose advantage and a new lifetime mark of 1:52.3.
Thats Incredible ($17.40) is owned by Joseph Trice and is trained by Jimmy Nickerson.
When racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday (June 24) there will be a $7,835 carry over in the sixth race wicked Hi-5 Pentafecta wager. Post time for the first race is set for 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)