Major Leaguer overcame an early deficit to go the mile of his life in the $16,000 Winners-Over pacing feature at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon.
Quick Shot (Drew Campbell) took early command and flashed to the half in :54.1. At that point four horses were already out and moving with Major Leaguer (Jimmy Whittemore) second-over in the pack. Bet You (Eddie Davis, Jr.) was closest to the leader and forced a :27.3, 1:21.4 three-quarter time and looked like a contender at that point.
As soon as they passed that station, Bet You stalled and Whittemore tipped Major Leaguer three wide around him and took dead-aim at Quick Shot, who still had a two-length advantage. Then under a methodical rocking hand drive, Major Leaguer made up the ground, wore down Quick Shot and hit the wire one-length ahead in 1:50.4, which was a new lifetime mark.
Unraced at two, the now four-year-old Major Leaguer ($16.20) scored his 23rd win in 44 lifetime starts for his driving owner, Jimmy Whittemore and his trainer Dennis Whittemore.
The second fastest mile of the day was registered in a $13,000 non-winners event for the under six-year-old group when Lucky Sport (Mitchell Cushing) went gate to wire to win by more than four lengths in 1:51, which was also a new lifetime mark.
The win was the second in the last three Plainridge outings for Lucky Sport ($3.60) and the time knocked almost two full seconds of his previous best taken at Mohawk Raceway back in June of this year. Curran Racing and Adam Michael co-own Lucky Sport who is trained by Jim Nickerson.
Several drivers had multiple wins on Thursday led by Mitchell Cushing with three and followed by Drew Campbell, Jimmy Whittemore and Wally Watson with two apiece.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon with a 2 p.m. post time. Monday’s card features the $20,000 finals of the two-year-old Open Late Closer series “The Wood End Light” on the trot and “The Nauset Light” on the pace. Several of the entries from this event are also eligible for the $1.3 million Massachusetts Sire Stakes that begin at Plainridge Park on Monday (Oct. 1). This will be one of their last tune-ups for that series and it should make these two races very interesting.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)