Trainer Mark Eaton had his charges ready to roll on Tuesday (Sept. 19) at Plainridge Park and watched all three of his entries visit the winner’s circle. The most notable victory came in the $25,000 Winners-Over Handicap pacing feature that Skyway Victor won in the shadow of the wire.
Skyway Victor (Mitchell Cushing) left from post six and comfortably led the single-file field to three-quarters in 1:23.3. At that point, Little Willy (Brett Beckwith) made his way up to second on the outside, but was still two lengths in arrears. At the top of the lane, it appeared Skyway Victor was easily home, but Little Willy continued to close and The Wild Card (Nick Graffam) came from out of the clouds and had a dead aim on them both. As the finish drew nearer, the gap between the three pacers continued to narrow and when they hit the light, Skyway Victor hung on to win by a mere nose over The Wild Card in 1:52.2.
It was the seventh win of the year for Skyway Victor ($7.80), who is owned by his trainer along with Robert Griffin.
Eaton completed his hat trick with Polo Bar (1:57.2, $3.60) and Enhance Yourcalm N (1:55, $2.60), both driven by Troy Beyer, who finished the day with a total of three wins.
The trotting feature on the card was a $20,000 upper-level conditioned event won by Echo De Meautis Fr (Brett Beckwith), who led by as many as four lengths through quarters of :27.2, :56.3 and 1:25.1 before turning for home under Beckwith wraps to win by 3-1/4 in 1:54.4.
For Echo De Meautis Fr ($2.60), it was the 10th win of the year, all at Plainridge Park, making him the winningest horse of either gait to this point of the meet for owner Archis McNeil and trainer Melissa Beckwith.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Sept. 21) at 2 p.m. and there will be a $6,314 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta wager in race six.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)