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Plainville, MA — Delayed Hanover (Southwind Frank) strayed from the Meadowlands for a week in lieu of an afternoon at The Ridge on Thursday (May 30) and ended up leaving with a win and a new seasonal mark of 1:52 after touring the facility in the meet’s fastest harness racing trot of the year at Plainridge Park.
Jay Randall left from post four with Delayed Hanover and took a quick and easy two length lead to the quarter in :27.2. With the field single file in chase, the pair then set a moderate tone of :56 to the half before Marquis Lafayette (Bruce Ranger) made a first-over move at five-eighths and advanced to within a length of the leader at the three-quarters.
But one length was as close as anyone would get as Randall fed Delayed Hanover some line and allowed him to close it out. With the whip on his shoulder and his hands in his lap, Randall was just a passenger as Delayed Hanover swelled up and bolted down the lane. Delayed Hanover put space between himself and the field with every stride and ran away with a 4-½ length victory in an eye-popping 1:52.
It was the first win in only seven 2024 starts for Delayed Hanover ($3.80) who is owned by Reid Wissner and trained by Kevin Mc Dermott.
DELAYED HANOVER REPLAY
In the secondary featured $17,000 conditioned trot, Wild Way (Helpisontheway, Bruce Ranger) yielded the lead to Cruising Tom (Matty Athearn) past the quarter and then sat the trip as Pembroke Honcho (Heath Campbell) pushed the issue with the leader from five-eighths to the top of the stretch. That’s where Ranger dipped inside Cruising Tom and outbrushed him to the line by a head in 1:56.
It was the fourth win of the year for Wild Way ($7.60) and owner WIlliam Hartt. Lance Hudson trains the winner.
WILD WAY REPLAY
Bruce Ranger ended the day with a driving grand slam while Domenico Cecere tallied two training wins, making each the leader in their respective category for Thursday.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday (June 3) with post time at 4 p.m. and the card will feature a $1,519 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 in race six.
For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.
by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts
