Patrickthepiranha A finishes with a flurry in Open

Plainville, MA — After starting slow, Patrickthepiranha A (Four Starzzz Shark) finished with a flurry to win the $25,000 Open harness racing pace at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (June 2).

Rock Diamonds N (Ron Cushing) took the lead at the quarter in :26.3 while seating JK Will Power (Jay Randall) and parking Rollinlikethunder (Drew Monti) while Patrickthepiranha A (Bruce Ranger) got away sixth.  The battle on the front continued to the half in :55.2 and three-quarters in 1:23.1, where Chatelroll (Nick Graffam) and Patrickthepiranha A were now driving three-deep into the last turn around the tiring Rollinlikethunder.

As the race spiralled off the far turn the horses fanned wide for the stretch run. Rock Diamonds N still had the lead, but Chatelroll soon grabbed it from him in the middle of the track.

Then Patrickthepiranha A was barreling down the straight widest of all and hit the wire ahead by a length to win his third consecutive start at Plainridge, timed in 1:50.3 featuring a sharp :26.4 final panel.

Patrickthepiranha A ($4.00) went over $300,000 in lifetime earnings with the victory, now showing $305,351 in the bank. Owned by Thestable Patrickthepiranha, the winner is trained by Melissa Beckwith.

PATRICKTHEPIRANHA A REPLAY

Bruce Ranger won two more races during the afternoon to lead all drivers for the day.

Earlier in the $20,000 upper-level conditioned pace, Always A Miki scored his first win of the year in a tough come from behind effort.

Always A Miki (Luke Hanners) followed cover second-over behind Captain Nash (Bruce Ranger) past the half in pursuit of the frontrunning Rockin The Blaze (Jay Randall) who got to that station in :54.4. Heading up the backside Captain Nash tucked in third behind Sea Isle City (Kevin Switzer Jr.), leaving Always A Miki in the breeze heading into the final turn. At the top of the stretch Sea Isle City tipped out for the drive but Always A Miki went three-wide and passed them all to win by a neck in a season’s best 1:51.1.

Always A Miki ($6.00) is owned by Joe Trice and is trained by Jimmy Nickerson.

ALWAYS A MIKI REPLAY

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday (June 6) with post time at 4 p.m. Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website here and clicking the “Racing” tab.

For complete race results, click here.

By Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts