Cushings cash in on Opens

Plainville, MA — A pair of $25,000 Open contests were featured at Plainridge Park on Thursday (July 31) afternoon and both winners were guided to victory through Cushing connections.

In the Open Handicap trot, Mitchell Cushing drove A New Leader to his fifth win of the season.

Going right to the front, A New Leader trotted sharply through quarters of :27.1, :56.1 and 1:24.3 while Sforza (Matty Athearn) followed intently from the pocket just waiting to make her move. And that came at the top of the lane where Sforza pulled and pushed towards the front, but A New Leader would remain the leader all the way to the line where he won by a length in 1:53.1, just one-fifth off his lifetime mark.

A New Leader ($7.00) is trained and owned by Mitchell Cushing, in partnership with Ray Lasky.

A NEW LEADER REPLAY

Then later in the Open Handicap pace for fillies and mares, Ron Cushing rallied late with Turn The Page to capture her third win of the year.

Swedish Starlet N (Matty Athearn) bolted for the lead and got to the quarter in :27. But shortly after that, Cushing pulled out early in front of the stands with Turn The Page N and drew within a half length of Swedish Starlet N as the race moved past the half. The two mares matched swift strides to three-quarters in a :27.4 panel and then continued to battle around the last turn and into the stretch, where Turn The Page N got the advantage and then held off the late closing Millwood Bliss N (Brett Beckwith) by one-quarter length and won in 1:51.3.

TURN THE PAGE N REPLAY

Turn The Page N ($2.80) is owned by Ron Cushing and Kevin Sywyk and trained by Heidi Cushing.

Drivers Bret Beckwith and Mitchell Cushing and trainer Jimmy Nickerson all scored two wins apiece on the card.

Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday (Aug. 4) at 4 p.m.

Free full past performance programs and race replays for all live racing days at Plainridge Park can be found at plainridgeparkcasino.com.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts