Nows The Moment romps in 100th career start

Plainville, MA — Nows The Moment (Credit Winner) made his 100th career harness racing start a memorable one for his owner Sonya Mac Donald after winning his second straight $20,000 Open Handicap Trot at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 1).

Nows The Moment (Kevin Switzer Jr.) took the lead off the gate and completely dominated from there. With the field in single file and the trailers just trying to keep up, Nows The Moment went fractions of :27, :56.4 and 1:25 heading into the last turn.

When he got to the top of the stretch, he was gone and opened up a 3-½ length margin while Switzer sat chilly winning in 1:53.2, tying his seasonal mark taken just last week.

Nows The Moment ($3.80) visited the winner’s circle for the 29th time in his career for trainer Allison Mac Donald.

NOWS THE MOMENT REPLAY

Switzer ended the day with a driving hat trick Thursday.

With the Massachusetts Sire Stakes just over three weeks away, many Mass-breds are in the process of tuning up for the lucrative series and a good example of that came in Thursday’s $11,500 conditioned first race where 3-year-old trotting filly Grits N Trix (Trixton-Bourbon N Grits) made a first-over move from fourth at the half for driver Nick Graffam before pulling away down the lane to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.1.

It was the fourth straight victory for the sister of 2013 Hambletonian winner Royalty For Life and owners Ray Campbell Jr. and Al Ross, who also bred the winner.

GRITS N TRIX REPLAY

The Massachusetts Sire Stakes start on Sunday (Sept. 25) and feature three preliminary legs before the final. This year to be eligible for the finals, horses must compete in at least two of those three legs. This will provide larger fields and more competition in the weeks leading up to Monday (Oct. 24) when the best horses from all eight divisions will compete for the top prize.

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon (Sept. 5) with post time at 2 p.m.

Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website and clicking the “Racing” tab.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts