Points North able to stay unbeaten

Plainville, MA — After a very impressive debut in the top pacing class at Plainridge Park last waeseek, Points North added another exclamation mark to his chart after winning again in the $25,000 Winners-Over harness racing pace on Monday afternoon (May 2). 

Picking up on last week’s game plan, Bruce Ranger rushed Points North to the front and controlled the pace. After laying down solid fractions of :26.3, :55.1 and 1:22.4, Points North rounded the last turn with a gapped three length advantage and started his trek down the lane under mild urging.

With a fast-closing Rock Diamonds N (Ron Cushing) and Lake Charles (Shawn Gray) bearing down in deep stretch, Points North maintained his lead and cruised home to a 1-¼ length victory in 1:50.4.

Now two-for-two at Plainridge, Points North ($2.60) scored his sixth overall win of the year and pushed his earnings to $86,052 for 2022. Jim Winske, David Winske and Melissa Beckwith own the 7-year-old gelded son of Somebeachsomewhere that is trained by Melissa Beckwith. 

POINTS NORTH REPLAY

In the $20,000 undercard feature, JK Will Power fought hard for the front and then closed out the deal with a 1-¼ length victory.

Driver Luke Hanners left with JK Will Power and tussled with Salt Life (Nick Graffam) to the quarter before clearing the front in :26.4.

Positions remained the same until Acton Hanover (Bruce Ranger) came first over around the second turn and pushed the pace to three-quarters in 1:23.1. From there JK Will Power continued to pace strong to the top of the stretch where the field started to bunch behind him.

Despite late charges from the tripped-out Salt Life and Rollinlikethunder (Kevin Switzer Jr.), JK Will Power hung tough and won in 1:52.3. 

It was the 35th career win for JK Will Power ($5.80) who is owned by Michael Goldberg Racing and trained by Jeff Lieberman. 

JK WILL POWER REPLAY

Cigars And Port (Wally Watson) took advantage of a class drop and short field to win the $17,500 condition pace in the day’s opener. Watson left sharply with Cigars And Port and backed the half down to a pedestrian :58.1. The second half was a different story after they posted a quick :54.1 and cruise home wrapped up in a 3-¼ length win in 1:52.2.

It was a season’s best outing for Cigars And Port ($2.40) and owners Fox Ridge Stable and Wally Watson. Lisa Watson trains the winner. 

Driver Drew Monti and trainer Jimmy Nickerson teamed up for a grand slam afternoon and led all other horsemen for wins on Monday. They scored with Hespoisedtopounce A (1:51.2, $10.20), Party Whip (1:54, $17.20), Calvin B (1:53, $14.40) and Tisadream N (1:53, $3.00). 

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (May 3) with post time at 4 p.m. Free downloadable programs are available for every live race day at Plainridge Park under the “Racing” tab on the website. 

For complete race results, click here.

By Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts