Cecere, Ranger each score Grand Slams

Plainville, MA — The “Connecticut Connection” of Lindy Farms and their trainer Domenico Cecere had a big day at Plainridge Park on Thursday (June 27) afternoon and their good fortunes were steered to victory four times by the hands of harness racing driver Bruce Ranger.

Their marquee victory was registered by Marquis Lafayette, who took the long way home in the $20,000 Open Handicap trotting feature race.

Marquis Lafayette got away sixth from post seven as Enola (Nick Graffam) and Sidd Finch (Jimmy Hardy) took turns on the point before they crossed the quarter in :27.1, before Delayed Hanover (Jay Randall) came in the breeze, trying to change the order again. When Delayed Hanover finally crossed over to the lead at the half, Ranger had Marquis Lafayette out and rolling first-over before Sidd Finch and Enola pulled at five-eighths and gave them cover.

Positions remained unchanged to three-quarters and into the last turn, but then Ranger tipped Marquis Lafayette three-deep around the stalled outer-flow and was in the middle of the racetrack as they entered the stretch. Delayed Hanover had a one length lead as they headed down the straight, but Marquis Lafayette was trotting like a machine under a mere line-drive and went right by Delayed Hanover and won by a length in 1:53, which set a new seasonal mark for the winner.

It was the second straight win for Marquis Lafayette ($6.60) who is owned by Greathorse.

MARQUIS LAFAYETTE REPLAY

Cecere and Ranger also captured the $17,000 secondary feature with Dejerate Hanover, who sat third behind Facebook Official (Drew Campbell) and Cruising Tom (Matty Athearn), who jousted for position through quarters of :29, :57.4 and 1:26.2 before entering the far turn side by side. As they rolled out of that final apex, Dejerate Hanover moved three-wide as they headed towards the line and bested the battling brace by one-half length in 1:55.4, taking a new lifetime mark.

Dejerate Hanover ($5.40) is owned by Lindy Farms of Connecticut.

DEJERATE HANOVER REPLAY

The final two wins of their trotting quadrilateral came via Sforza (1:54.4, $2.40) and Intl Blockade (1:54.2, $4.40), both of which registered new career marks. The four wins also vaulted Cecere and Ranger to the top of their respective categories for performance on Thursday.

Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday (June 27) with post time at 4 p.m. and the card will feature a $2,529 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 in race six.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts