Never a doubt for Life’s A Puzzle

Plainville, MA — There was never a doubt about harness racing strategy for Life’s A Puzzle (Lazarus N) on Monday (Nov. 18) at Plainridge Park as driver Drew Monti pointed him down the road and let him tour the facility in the mile of his life in the featured $25,000 Open Handicap pacing feature.

Life’s A Puzzle left the gate, grabbed the lead and left the rest of the field in his dust. After setting fast fractions of :26, :53.3 and 1:21.1 through the first lap of the oval, Life’s A Puzzle built a two length lead that he took around the final turn and extended it to five as he entered the stretch. Heading for home, Life’s A Puzzle stayed on task and pulled away to a 5-1/2 length gap under Monti wraps and won in 1:49.2, with a :28.1 kicker.

LIFE’S A PUZZLE REPLAY

The time of 1:49.2 was a new lifetime mark for Life’s A Puzzle by a full second and was only three-fifths of a second off the track record for 4-year-old pacing geldings.

It was the seventh win of the year for Life’s A Puzzle ($3.00) who is owned by Richard Humphrey and trained by Gerald Mac Kenzie Jr.

In the secondary featured $25,000 Massachusetts Starter Allowance, Mansome (Somebeachsomewhere, Ron Cushing) settled on the lead and cut quarters of :27, :55.4 and 1:24 while Kill A Dragon (Bruce Ranger) pressed on the outside during that third quarter and Major Betts (Drew Monti) followed his cover in a striking position. At the top of the stretch, Mansome was still in control, but Anvil Hands found room at the pylons while Major Betts tipped three-wide around Kill A Dragon. These three battled to the line where Mansome hung on to win by a neck in 1:53.

MANSOME REPLAY

Mansome ($5.20) is owned by Bruce Weinstein and trained by Heidi Cushing.

Brett Beckwith and Mitchell Cushing led all drivers with two wins each on Monday while 10 different trainers won one race apiece.

Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Nov. 19) at 1 p.m.

Free full past performance programs for all live racing days at Plainridge Park can be downloaded from their website under the “racing” tab.

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

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts