Golden Kronos cruises at Plainridge

Plainville, MA — After hitting the board in three consecutive starts at Plainridge Park, Golden Kronos swelled up and ran away with the $25,000 Winners-Over Handicap harness racing trot at The Ridge on Friday afternoon (Oct. 22).

Drew Monti left sharply from post five with Golden Kronos and had to seat a pesky Northern Sultan (Mike Stevenson) who was parked on the outside pushing the issue. After a :27.1 quarter Golden Kronos was finally alone and slowed the half a bit to :55.2.

By the time the race got midway up the backside, Golden Kronos had put some separation between himself and the rest of the field. That gap continued to widen around the last turn and by the top of the stretch, Golden Kronos was gone. Heading down the lane Monti sat chilly as Golden Kronos trotted on his own and hit the line ahead by five open lengths in 1:53.3.

It was the first top class win for Golden Kronos ($5.00) at Plainridge Park and eighth win overall for the year. The 7-year-old gelded son of Chapter Seven-Order By Credit is owned by Michael Pozefsky, William Pozefsky and Myron Ekstein and is trained by Stanley Zombick Jr.

GOLDEN KRONOS REPLAY

Drew Monti also won with Winning Design (1:53.2, $6.00) and Sortie Hanover (1:55.3, $4.20) to lead all drivers with three wins for the afternoon.

Despite winning just last week in a seasonal best time of 1:54.4, Esa (Jay Randall) was overlooked at the windows off a jump in class. But that didn’t prevent him from defeating the co-featured field in the $17,500 upper level conditioned trot.

Esa got away fourth while Big Rich (Kevin Switzer Jr.) led to three-quarters. By that station Randall pulled Esa first over, cleared the front by the top of the stretch and then held on to win by ¼ length in 1.55.4.

Esa ($19.20) got his fourth win of the year for owners Bill Reepmeyer and the Jackie Greene Stables. Jackie Greene trains the winner.

Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Sunday (Oct. 24) at 2 p.m.

The finals of the $2.24 Massachusetts Sire Stakes will be held at Plainridge Park on Monday (Oct. 25) starting with two non-betting events at 1:30 p.m. Eight final divisions worth $100,000 each will go postward to crown this year’s state-bred champions.

For full race results, click here.

By Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts