19-1 upset in $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot

Ake Svanstedt put Up Your Deo (Walner) in the perfect spot early and handled him masterfully through adversity late to upset the harness racing field at 19-1 in the $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot.

After an early tussle, Lexus Kody (Yannick Gingras) was first to the front passing the quarter in :26.4. But Logan Park (Doug McNair) quickly left the pocket and took the lead as the race went to the half in :54.4. Logan Park trotted smartly on the point going up the backside as Chapercraz (Nick Graffam) moved first-over into contention as things got close after that.

As the race entered the last turn, Logan Park was still in front, but Lexus Kody came off the pegs and moved to the outside. Periculum (Scott Zeron) also swung three-deep from the back of the pack and Up Your Deo moved into fourth right behind Lexus Kody. When the trotters turned for home, Lexus Kody was moving to the lead with Periculum outside of him, but then Lexus Kody made a break and crossed over in front of Up Your Deo, who had just found clear racing room. Despite the interference, Svanstedt grabbed and steadied his trotter without missing a stride and then ran down Periculum in deep stretch to win by a neck in 1:51, tying his lifetime mark.

On the strength of the win, Up Your Deo ($35.20) fell a mere $808 shy of breaking the $1 million mark in lifetime earnings, now showing $999,192 in the bank.

UP YOUR DEO REPLAY

Up Your Deo is trained and owned by his driver Svanstedt, in partnership with Suleyman Yuksel, Deo Volente Farm and Van Camp Trotting.

It was the second Spirit of Massachusetts Trot victory for Ake Svanstedt, who also won it in 2022 with Alrajah One IT.

In the $75,000 Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational, Vintage Cheddar N (Betterthancheddar) took the lead passing the quarter and controlled the race from there.

After getting to the half in :53.3 and three-quarters in 1:21, Vintage Cheddar N (Dexter Dunn) turned for home and held off the fast closing Two Fold Cold (David Ingraham) and Tenzing Bromac N (Ron Cushing) to win in 1:48.3.

VINTAGE CHEDDAR N REPLAY

The time was a new track record for aged pacing geldings and also a new lifetime mark for the winner.

Vintage Cheddar N ($5.40) is owned by his trainer, Amanda Kelley, in partnership with VIP Internet Stable.

Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday (July 21) 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 Plainridge Park