Favorite, longshot capture Plainridge paces

Plainville, MA — A pair of $15,000 conditioned harness racing paces featured at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 31) had split decisions by the betting public.

In the first, Mach Seelster (Check Six, Nick Graffam) was sent off as the heavy favorite and sat third to the half as Darkknights Shadow (Todd O’Dea) got to that station in :57. Graffam tipped Mach Seelster and advanced up the backstretch, getting to within one-half length of the leader at three-quarters. The two battled side by side around the last turn and down the lane where Mach Seelster grabbed the lead and won in 1:54.4. Mach Seelster is owned and trained by Domenic Longobardi.

MACH SEELSTER REPLAY

Then one race later, Beyond The Past (Jk Endofanera, Mike Stevenson), who was overlooked at the windows at 22-1, got away fifth while Sailor Jerry (Nick Graffam) set the pace. An outer flow formed after the half and that locked Beyond The Past in on the pylons at three-quarters.

While Sailor Jerry and De Chirico (Drew Campbell) went at it for the lead around the far turn, an opening finally appeared for Beyond The Past, who was still three lengths behind and swinging four-deep into the stretch. As they paced for the wire, Beyond The Past exploded down the lane and flew to the front, winning by 1-½ lengths in 1:53.2 to score the upset. Beyond The Past ($47.40) is owned by John Di Antonio Jr. and trained by Bob Marston.

BEYOND THE PAST REPLAY

Brett Beckwith and Drew Campbell both had two driving wins on Tuesday.

Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Nov. 2) with a new post time of 1 p.m. Post time will remain at 1 p.m. for the rest of the meet which runs through November 30.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts