Classicist makes it two straight at Plainridge

Plainville, MA — For the second straight week, Classicist (Captaintreacherous) was crowned queen for the day after winning the $20,000 fillies and mares Open Handicap harness racing pace at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 30).

Classicist (Brett Beckwith) had to overpower Powered By Mach (Jay Randall) in a :26 flat quarter but did so in stride and moved on from there. With no right line pulled to the :54.3 half, Probert (Nick Graffam) was the first to challenge with That’s Incredible (Drew Monti) following intently.

Classicist continued up the backside under a line drive while the pocket-sitting Powered By Mach and two outside challengers seemed to stall in their advances. Coming off the last turn Classicist had a two-length advantage, and it was clear the race was won. She cruised home under Beckwith wraps by two lengths in 1:50.3.

Classicist ($2.40) now has four wins and $114,000 in bank this year for owner David Kryway. Tahnee Camilleri trains the winning mare.

CLASSICIST REPLAY

There were also two $15,000 conditioned paces held during the afternoon.

In the first, Pembroke Ali (Western Maverick, Heath Campbell) sat in the pocket behind Quarrel (Kevin Switzer Jr.) until the top of the stretch when he tipped and brushed home first in a new lifetime mark of 1:53.1. owned by William Varney and trained by Valerie Grondin, Pembroke Ali returned $31.20.

Right after that, Lyons Legacy (Captaintreacherous, Shawn Thayer) stalked a headstrong Anvil Hands (Jim Hardy) for three-quarters of the mile before tipping around Striking Impact (Drew Monti) in the stretch to win in 1:52.4. Lyons Legacy ($23.00) is owned by Garrett Hawkins and trained by his driver, Thayer.

Drivers Drew Monti and Bruce Ranger both had two wins on Tuesday.

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 1) with the new earlier post time of 2 p.m..

Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website and clicking the “Racing” tab.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts