Northern Skyway full of trot at Plainridge

Plainville, MA — A patient harness racing drive by Shawn Gray paid big dividends for his connections after Northern Skyway rushed home to win the $22,500 Winners-Over Handicap trotting feature at Plainridge Park on Friday afternoon (Oct. 29).

Northern Skyway got away fourth as Golden Kronos (Drew Monti) and Northern Sultan (Mike Stevenson) took turns on the lead to the half. Golden Kronos finally established the front moving up the backside and reached three-quarters in 1:25.

After Eurobond (Jim Pantaleano) made a break following from third, Northern Sultan and Northern Skyway were now in hot pursuit of the leader heading into the last turn.

Golden Kronos’ lead started to diminish as the race headed into the stretch. At that point Northern Sultan had tipped from second and was making up ground, but Northern Skyway swung three wide around him and out-stepped everyone to the wire to win in 1:55.1.

It was the 11th win of the year for Northern Skyway ($8.00) who has now amassed $115,455 this year for owner William Mc Elevain. James Dunn trains the 6-year-old gelding.

NORTHERN SKYWAY REPLAY

The secondary featured $17,500 conditioned trot went to Kyrie Deo ($6.20) who registered his second straight victory at Plainridge Park.

Kyrie Deo (Matty Athearn) was drafting along fourth as Big Rich (Kevin Switzer Jr.) took the field the the half in :58.2. Athearn pulled at that point and Kyrie Deo drew even with Big Rich passing three-quarters. The two trotters tangled around the last turn and all the way to the line where Kyrie Deo crossed first by ¼ length in 1:56.4.

With his seventh win of the season, Kyrie Deo ($6.20) pushed his earnings to $64,587 for owner William Phipps. Gretchen Athearn trains the winner.

KYRIE DEO REPLAY

In the $15,000 mid-level condition trot, Sortie Hanover (Shawn Gray) opted not to cut the mile this week in lieu of a perfect pocket trip provided by And Up We Go (Mike Stevenson) to the top of the stretch where he swung into the two-path and ran down the leader to win by a head at the line in 1:57.

It was the second win in a row for Sortie Hanover ($9.60) and sixth overall of the year for owner William Mc Elevain and trainer Elisha Lafreniere.

Shawn Gray added one more win to claim the driving hat trick. Elisha Lafreniere also won a total of three races to finish the day as the top trainer.

One of the true veteran race horses still competing at Plainridge Park is the 14-year-old Windsong Gorgeous who won his 55th lifetime race on Friday in 1:56.1. Driven by Wally Watson and trained by his owner Lisa Watson. Windsong Gorgeous ($8.20) has won $646,794 in purses during his career and will reach the mandatory retirement age of 15 on January 1, 2022.

Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Sunday (Oct. 31) with post time for the first race at 2 p.m. but please note that starting Monday (Nov. 1), post time for the first race will be pushed up to 1 p.m. for all race days for the remainder of the meet.

For full race results, click here.

By Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts