An early move turned into a statement win for Ucanttouchthis, who romped in the $22,500 feature pace at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon (Aug. 21).
Hespoisedtopounce A (Matty Athearn) fired off the gate from post seven and led the field to the quarter in :25.3. Then just past that marker, Ucanttouchthis (Brett Beckwith) vacated the pocket, took the lead in front of the stands and continued to roll to the half in :53. As the field motored up the backstretch, Ucanttouchthis widened his lead to three lengths as the rest of the group found themselves in two rows and chasing. Ucanttouchthis hit three-quarters in 1:20.3 and took his three-length lead to the top of the stretch before cruising home to his second consecutive win in identical 1:50 clockings.
Ucanttouchthis ($9.20) went over a quarter million in lifetime earnings with the win, now boasting $253,180 for owner Michele Nelson. Melissa Beckwith was the winning trainer.
Brett Beckwith had three driving wins on Monday.
In the co-featured $20,000 District 9 Pace, Miki U So Fine (Mitchell Cushing) moved first-over from fourth at the half in pursuit of the front-running Twin B Jays (Bruce Ranger). After incrementally gaining ground on the leader, Miki U So Fine drew even with Twin B Jays in the last turn and then matched strides with him halfway down the stretch. Miki U So Fine finally took the lead but then had to hold off Quick Shot (Shawn Gray) and Calvin B (Matty Athearn) late to hang on for a hard-fought neck victory in 1:53.3.
It was the third win of the year for Miki U So Fine ($10), who is owned by his trainer, Domenic Longobardi.
Mitchell Cushing also had three driving wins on Monday while Longobardi trained a winning pair.
Randy Bickmore led all trainers during the afternoon, sending three from his stable for pictures.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Aug. 22) at 4 p.m. and there will be a $12,199 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta wager in race six.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)