Swedish Starlet N got off to a quick start and then led at every station en route victory in the $34,722 Fillies & Mares Open pacing feature at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon, July 30.
Driver Matty “Ice” Athearn bolted to the front off the gate with Swedish Starlet N and tripped the fractional timers in :27.3 and :57.1 at the half. As the race made its way onto the backstretch, Dandys Evrlasting (Nick Graffam) pulled first-over from third and Turn The Page (Ron Cushing) quickly followed her cover.
After passing three-quarters in 1:25, Swedish Starlet N still maintained a length advantage as they into the last turn over Dandys Evrlasting and Turn The Page, who then tipped three-deep as they entered the stretch. Heading down the lane, Swedish Starlet N was in full flight and closed out the mile with a :27.3 sprint to hold off Turn The Page by one-half length and win in 1:52.3.
The ninth win of the year for Swedish Starlet N ($7.60) pushed her earnings to $103,030 this year. Jimmy Nickerson trains the winner for owners Tim Bojarski and Tony Gruppo.
Later in the secondary featured $27,778 upper-level conditioned pace for female participants, Seaside Tina (Kevin Switzer Jr.) also made every call a winning after taking the lead off the gate and skating through fractions of :26.2, :55 3 and 1:22.4, while Rys Red Rocket (Bruce Ranger) and Checkpoint Chatter (Jimmy Hardy) fought hard in chase. But as they made their way to the line, Seaside Tina stayed tough and turned back the late closing Quarrel (Jay Randall) to win by one length in a season's best, 1:51.
Seaside Tina ($2.80) is owned by her trainer Mark Eaton, in partnership with Robert Griffin.
Seaside Tina was the third win of the day for Switzer.
Brett Beckwith also had three driving wins while Mike Girouard topped the trainers with two tallies on Tuesday.
Live harness racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday, Aug. 1, with post time at 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)