A pair of upper-level conditioned events, each valued at $27,397, topped the bill at Plainridge Park on Thursday, Sept. 4, and both winners made fast finishes from off the pace.
Pepper Wow matched his season’s best effort as he captured the trotting co-feature. Wall Street Edge (Brett Beckwith) grabbed the lead and took the field through a :27.3 quarter and to the half in :57. Then came the outer flow, led by Busting With Pride (Bruce Ranger), who was followed by Pepper Wow (Drew Campbell).
Moving up the backstretch to three-quarters in 1:25.1, Busting With Pride continued to pressure Wall Street Edge while Pepper Wow was content to draft until he made his move. That came at seven-eighths, where Campbell tipped Pepper Wow three-deep, and the stallion bolted down the lane to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.1. Heavens Pic (Aaron Byron) finished second over Wall Street Edge.
Pepper Wow ($5) is owned by Earl and Kathy Beaman and Shirley Michaud. He is three-for-12 this year for trainer Ivan Davies. The four-year-old Crazy Wow-Tori Hall stallion has won nine of 34 career starts and has earned $290,222.
In the co-featured pace for mares, Checkpoint Chatter turned some heads as she upset at 7-1. Checkpoint Chatter (Jim Hardy) got away seventh as Side Piece (Bruce Ranger) and Seaside Tina (Brett Beckwith) traded leads to the quarter in :26. Seaside Tina finally settled on the lead and got to the half in :54.1. Beckwith kept his foot on the gas going to three-quarters in 1:22.4, and Seaside Tina opened up a three-length lead as the outer lane composed of Beantown Ace (Nick Graffam) and Checkpoint Chatter struggled to keep up.
That soon changed as they rounded the bend, where Seaside Tina was tiring quickly and Hardy had Checkpoint Chatter revved and rolling four-wide as the race entered the stretch. From there it was all Checkpoint Chatter, who swelled up late and flew to the line on top by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:53.1. Beantown Ace finished second, followed by Maidsweet Ir (Kevin Switzer Jr.).
Checkpoint Chatter ($17) won for the fourth time this year in 17 attempts. The seven-year-old daughter of Always A Virgin-Blistletoe is owned by Upland Farm and trained by Don Guidette Jr. She is now 30-for-144 lifetime with a bankroll of $370,758.
Drivers Beckwith and Bruce Ranger won two races on the day, which was comprised of an 11-race pari-mutuel card and one non-wagering race, while 12 different trainers each won one apiece.
There was a big winner in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in the sixth race. The single unique combination of 4-1-3-8-5 returned $6,737.29 for the 20-cent wager.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday at 2 p.m.
(Plainridge Park; photo of Checkpoint Chatter winning on Sept. 4)