The extreme heat that caused the postponement of Monday’s (July 27) card at Plainridge Park had somewhat subsided when the horses took the track on Tuesday (July 28) to contest those deferred races and several stellar performances were put forth by both man and beast.
A pair of $10,000 condition paces were featured on Tuesday and both winners followed similar come-from-behind routes.
In the first co-feature, Touch Of Dragon got away sixth behind a :26.3 quarter set by the favoured Pure Sunshine. As the race moved past the grandstand, driver Kevin Switzer Jr. tipped Touch Of Dragon off the pylons and motored to draw alongside Pure Sunshine by the top of the stretch. From there, Touch Of Dragon responded favourably to moderate urging from Switzer Jr. and paced away to the finish, where he won by three lengths in a lifetime-best 1:53.4.
Touch Of Dragon got his second win in six 2020 starts for owners Michele Nelson, Walter Hight and Jeffery Foss. Joe Nelson trains the $11.20 winner.
Then later in the card, Tucker Creek floated from post 8 and dropped in fourth while Mcbeantown led the group to the quarter in :26.3. Positions remained the same until just before the half when driver Drew Monti pulled Tucker Creek first-up and ranged alongside Mcbeantown at the three-quarters. At that point Monti just raised the lines, tapped the bike shaft once and Tucker Creek motored home on cruise control to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths in 1:53.1.
It was the second-consecutive win for Tucker Creek and owners Joe Hayes Jr. And Paul Paoletti. Jimmy Nickerson is the trainer of the $3.20 winner.
Another participant who had consecutive wins was driver Drew Monti, who scored a natural grand slam in Races 4-7. Besides the already mentioned Tucker Creek, Monti also won with American Fighter (1:57.3, $14.80), What A Hooligan (1:55, $3.20) and Worth Watching (1:56.1, $14.00).
Not to be outdone, Bruce Ranger also had a big day in the bike, winning three races with Plus One (1:52.3, $5.80), Hollywood Deemon (1:58.4, $17.60) and Maui (1:54, $3.20).
The 1:54 win by Maui (Bettors Delight-Barbara Ann), who is Massachusetts-bred and stake eligible, set a track record for a two-year-old pacing gelding, breaking the record of R Maddy Blue Chip set just last year. Maui is owned by KDK Standardbreds and trained by Kevin Switzer.
After only eight cards of racing so far this year, there have already been four track records broken at "The Ridge".
There was an instant jackpot in the Wicked Hi-5 wager in the sixth race where a 20-cent ticket on the combination of 3-5-2-1-9 returned a whopping $14,603.70.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday (July 30) with post time at 4 p.m. (EDT).
(Plainridge Park)