Late charge along the pylons takes Plainridge Open

Plainville, MA — After making an untimely break in the marque event last week, Fourever Boy (Sweet Lou) bounced back with a perfect trip and won the $20,000 Open Handicap harness racing pacing feature at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon (June 24).

It was the three horse scramble off the gate that saw Torrid Saint A (Matty Athearn), Alex Having Fun (Bruce Ranger) and Fourever Boy (Brett Beckwith) each hold the lead as they passed by the quarter in :26.2. When Fourever Boy finally settled on the point, Torrid Saint A came right back out from third to take the top again while they scorched by the half in :53.1.

As the race made its way up the backside and approaching three-quarters, Alex Having Fun pulled from third and tried to reel-in the leading Torrid Saint from the outside as Fourever Boy continued to track from the pocket heading into the final turn. At the top of the lane, Torrid Saint A turned back Alex Having Fun, but Fourever Boy found room at the pegs and shot through in the final strides and won by one-quarter length in 1:50.1, tying his seasonal mark.

It was the third win of the year for Fourever Boy ($9.00) who is owned by Micki Rae Stables and Tim Twaddle. Mark Beckwith trains the winner.

FOUREVER BOY REPLAY

It was one of two wins for Brett Beckwith on Monday.

In the secondary featured $15,000 Starter Allowance for Plainridge pacers, Paternity Suit A (Rock N Roll Heaven) and driver Matty Athearn got away fourth as Anvil Hands (Jimmy Hardy) led and stopped the timer in :26.1 and :55.2 at the half. It was there that Athearn had Paternity Suit A out and rolling and charged for the lead passing the five-eighths.

Now in command, Paternity Suit A paced with authority to three-quarters in 1:23.3, turned for home one length on top and then held off late challenges from both Anvil Hands and Dance Monkey (Brett Beckwith) to win by 1-½ lengths in 1:52.

It was the third win in the last four starts and the fourth win of the year for Paternity Suit A ($7.20) who is owned by Tim Bojarski and Tony Gruppo and trained by Jimmy Nickerson.

PATERNITY SUIT A REPLAY

Athearn had a driving double during the card.

Drivers Nick Graffam and Drew Monti also had two wins on Monday while Bryant Sears was the leading trainer of the day, scoring two wins of his own.

There were three notable longshots who won on Monday. Ucanttouchthis (1:52, $30.20), Vel Foxy Stevie (1:53.3, $83.40) and Sportsnest (1:54.4, $122.20) all sent speculators home happy with voluminous payouts.

Also, the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in the sixth race and returned a healthy amount. The single unique combination of 2-4-7-9-6 returned $3,658.60 for the 20-cent wager.

Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (June 25) with post time at 4 p.m.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts