Double millionaire jogs in at Plainridge

Plainville, MA — Fresh off a full slate of stake competition, two-time millionaire Charlie May (McArdle) shipped into Plainridge Park for some overnight harness racing action and walked away an easy winner in the $25,000 Open Handicap pace on Thursday (Oct. 10) afternoon.

Driver Bruce Ranger put Charlie May on the point and commanded the proceedings from start to finish. While Fourever Boy (Brett Beckwith) tracked intently from second, Charlie May tripped the timer in modest fractions of :27.1, :55.3 and 1:24.2 with no pressure from behind. Charlie May then circled the final turn to the top of the stretch, where Fourever Boy pulled to take his best shot. Charlie May saw the challenge and with little effort, simply paced away under a line drive by Ranger to win by 1-½ lengths in 1:51.3.

CHARLIE MAY REPLAY

It was only the second win of the year for Charlie May ($3.60), but it pushed his earnings to $194,150 for the year for owner Don Tiger. Steve Carter trains Charlie May, who ran his lifetime bank up to $2,246,285 while in Massachusetts.

Ranger also won the $20,500 secondary featured pace with Naturally Gifted A (Sweet Lou), who took the lead from Im No Outlaw (Brett Beckwith) before the :54 half, and then held the field that was three-deep in pursuit at three-quarters at bay around the last turn before pacing to the line on top by 1-¼ lengths in a new lifetime best clocking of 1:50.4.

The win pushed Naturally Gifted A ($6.60) over the century mark in earnings for 2024, as he now shows $102,530 on the card for owners Richard Poilucci and David Kryway. Gretchen Atheran trains the winner.

Ranger completed a grand slam with wins behind Rodman (1:51.3, $4.20) and Major Betts (1:52.2, $4.20).

The Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in the ninth race and provided an instant jackpot. The single unique combination of 6-4-3-5-1 returned $12,377.12 for the 20-cent wager.

There were also two other huge win payouts on Thursday. Hollywood Skeeter (Nick Graffam, 1:53.3) paid $119.60 and High Gear No Fear (Brett Beckwith, 1:58.2) returned $89.80.

Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Friday (Oct. 11) at 2 p.m.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for Plainridge Park