Price Control took control of the $34,247 Open Handicap Pace and never looked back before winning the Monday (Aug. 25) afternoon feature at Plainridge Park.
Price Control and Mitchell Cushing led a short six-horse field unchallenged through quarters of :26.2, :54.1 and 1:21.3 before entering the final turn ahead by 1-1/2 lengths. Price Control then spun into the stretch on top by two, but had to hold off Heinikin Bythebay (Matty Athearn) and Stonebridge Reef (Brett Beckwith), who made late lunges that came up short by three-quarters of a length as Price Control got across in 1:50.
The triumph was the second straight win for Price Control ($8.00) who is owned by Ray Lasky, Matthew Little and his driver, Cushing, who also trains the winner.
In the day’s first race, which was a $23,973 non-winners event for two- to five-year-olds, Poker Sy (Brett Beckwith) destroyed the field by 14-lengths and stopped the clock in 1:49.1 to become tied as the fastest pacer ever bred in the state of Massachusetts. He matched the mile time of Mullinax who went in 1:49.1 at the Meadowlands in 2022.
Poker Sy ($5.00) is owned by the Jesmeral Stable and trained by Christie Collins.
Poker Sy was one of four wins for Beckwith, who led all drivers for wins on Monday. On the training side, one might say it was “Eaton good in the neighborhood” as Mike Eaton sent two winners to post as did his daughter, Julia Eaton.
When Bruce Ranger won the eighth race with Tuffenuftowearpink (1:51, $23.00), he eclipsed the $50 million USD mark in career driving earnings.
A native of Portland, Maine, the 65-year-old Ranger started his driving career in 1979 at the Skowhegan Fair, where he scored his first victory. From there, his career path went through Massachusetts — at both Foxboro and Plainridge Park — as well as Florida, where he was a legendary star and the all-time dash win leader at Pompano Park.
After “momentarily retiring” in 2015, he returned to action at Scarborough Downs in the fall of 2018, and he’s been on a roll ever since. Since climbing back into the bike, Ranger has been competing at every track in Maine along with being a regular at Plainridge Park, where he has won multiple dash titles.
At the current Plainridge meet, Ranger is the second leading dash driver with 74 wins and $878,652 USD in purses out of 434 starts, with 49 seconds and 53 thirds. Overall this year to date, he has 620 starts with 117 wins, 71 seconds and 81 thirds with $1,084,818 USD in earnings.
Ranger’s overall career numbers are eye-popping. He has amassed 10,592 wins, 8,292 seconds and 6,785 thirds from 52,212 starts that pushed him to the $50 million USD mark. His win total puts him 19th on the North American all-time driving wins list with only 13 drivers ahead of him who are still active.
Ranger has won in excess of $1 million USD in a single season 14 times in his career and has won in excess of $2 million USD in purses seven times. Plus Ranger has always been a very high-percentage driver, boasting a career Universal Driver Rating of .337.
Ranger ended his big day by donning a hat for his three wins on the card.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Aug. 26) at 4 p.m. with a $1,259 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race six.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)