A pair of $20,000 conditioned paces topped the card at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (June 22) with both Cigars And Port and DP Realordeal brushing late off the pace for their victories.
Cigars And Port (Wally Watson) got away fourth and remained there as Crunch Hanover (Bruce Ranger) led the single-file field through swift quarters of :26, :53.2 and 1:21. At that last station, Skyway Victor (Mitchell Cushing) left the pocket and engaged Crunch Hanover on even terms around the last turn as Cigars And Post shook loose, but faced a seemingly insurmountable 4-1/2 lengths to make up. Skyway Victor took the lead in the stretch but Cigars And Port was relentless with his effort, catching Skyway Victor while holding off a fast-closing Little Willy (Brett Beckwith) to win by one-half length in 1:50.1, tying his lifetime mark.
It was the second win of the year for Cigars And Port ($20.80), who is owned by Fox Ridge Stable and his driver Watson. Lisa Watson trains the winner.
Earlier and in similar style, DP Realordeal (Bruce Ranger) got away last as Anvil Hands (Jim Hardy) commanded fractions of :26, :54.3 and 1:22.2. At that point, Odds On Blockchain (Luke Hanners) was moving first-over, third on the outside with DP Realordeal following his cover. At the seven-eighths pole, Ranger revved up DP Realordeal and swung him three-deep into the stretch. From there, a highly animated Ranger pushed DP Realordeal all the way down the stretch and past Anvil Hands while holding off Ucanttouchthis (Brett Beckwith) by a nose at the line in 1:50.4.
It was the third win in the last four starts for the track record holder DP Realordeal ($3.20), who hasn’t been off the board in 10 Plainridge starts this year. Lance Hudson trains the winner for William Hartt.
Ranger ended the day with three driving wins as did Nick Graffam while 11 different trainers sent one horse each to the winner’s enclosure.
There was a huge payout in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race nine when the single unique winning combination of 2-9-4-7-5 returned $28,846.48 for the 20-cent wager.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday, June 26 at 4 p.m. and there will be a $531 carryover in the Pick-6 in race four.
(Plainridge Park)