Fresh off a front-end effort that saw him come up just short in 1:54.3 last week, Manssive took a two-hole trip to victory this time in the $14,000 trotting feature at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon.
Ron Cushing left to get Manssive forwardly placed and dropped in second behind Nathaniel (Drew Campbell) who led the way to the quarter in :27.1. The field stayed in line from there allowing the front runner a solid second quarter break.
Campbell revved Nathaniel up the backside with a :28-second third panel attempting to put some space between them and the field. However Manssive tracked the move well and stayed right on his back. As the race headed down the stretch, Manssive pulled and drew alongside Nathaniel and eventually wore him down at the wire to score by a head in 1:55.1, which was a new lifetime mark for the winner.
Manssive ($15.20) is owned by Kevin Sywyk and his driver, Ron Cushing, and is trained by Heidi Gibbs.
In the co-featured $12,000 conditioned trot, Dream Massive (Shawn Gray) got away second last before coming third over in the outer flow and tipping three-deep at the three-quarters to pull away to a four-length win in 1:55.1, which was also a new lifetime mark.
Dream Massive ($2.60) is owned by William Emmons and is trained by Alicia Gray.
Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Friday at 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)