Yonkers Raceway regular Rock Diamonds N brought his 'A' game to Plainridge Park on Monday and dominated the field in the $14,000 Winners-Over Handicap en route to scoring the fastest win of his short North American career.
Driver Ron Cushing floated Rock Diamonds N on the outside during a brisk :26.1 first quarter cut by Class Six (Drew Campbell) before motoring up to the lead in front of the grandstand. As soon as he seated, Bet You (Jay Randall) pulled first over and pushed the issue with the leader to the three quarters in 1:22.2, but the party was over from there.
Rock Diamonds N rebuffed that challenge and opened up a two-length gap between himself and the rest of the field. After a quick tap and a set of high lines, Cushing let Rock Diamonds N pace away down the lane to win by two in 1:50.1, which was a new lifetime mark for the winner.
It was the sixth win in 12 North American starts for Rock Diamonds N ($4.20) who has now earned $55,485 for owners Kevin Sywyk, his driver Cushing and Frank Ranaldi. Heidi Gibbs does the training.
The secondary feature was a $12,000 upper-level conditioned pacing event that saw Lindy Beach regain his old form.
Warrawee Nonsuch (Shawn Gray) cut the mile and looked strong doing it in :26.4, :55.1 and 1:23.2. But Lindy Beach (Drew Monti) who had gotten away ninth, rallied from last following third-over outside cover to the top of the final turn where he tipped three-deep and exploded past the field by the top of the stretch. That’s where he drew even with Warrawee Nonsuch before going right on by to win by a neck in 1:51.4, which was a new seasonal mark.
It was the first win of 2019 for Lindy Beach ($24.40) who is owned by the Lindy Racing Stable and trained by Domenico Cecere.
Mitchell Cushing led all drivers with three wins on the card.
Seemingly the hardest ticket to cash in the business, the Wicked Hi-5 Pentafecta did not have a unique winning ticket once again on Monday and as such, there is another record high carryover pool of $41,733 for the sixth race on Thursday when live racing resumes at Plainridge Park. Post time for the first race is 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)