Prominent harness racing breeder/owner/executive Frank Antonacci was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York on Sunday evening (July 2) during a banquet attended by hundreds of racing notables. On Monday afternoon (July 3) at Plainridge Park, his racing connections continued that party by winning a natural hat trick in the first three races on the card with horses bred and owned by “Frank The Elder,” with two of the three taking new lifetime marks.
Trainer Domenico Cecere and driver Bruce Ranger started out the team hat trick with the Massachusetts-bred three-year-old Milliondollarwall, who had the lead by two lengths at the half and extended it to five at the top of the stretch. He maintained that separation all the way to the wire where he won in 1:54.2, knocking almost three full seconds off his career-best outing. It was the first win of the year for Milliondollarwall ($5.20), who was a winner of four races last year, including three in the Massachusetts Stakes series.
Next, it was Moni Lisa who flew to the front and gapped the field by four at the first quarter in :27.1 and that was only the beginning. Moni Lisa got to the half in :55.3 and three-quarters in 1:24.1 while stretching out to a seven-length lead. The three-year-old filly rounded the last bend and simply cruised home, on top by 11 lengths in 1:53.4, missing the track record for age, gender and gait by only one-fifth of a second. It was the first lifetime win for Moni Lisa ($5).
Then Sonnys Moni sat second to the quarter but took control by the half, while Two Scoops For Jack (Matty Athearn) and Wallet (Nick Graffam) followed in chase. Sonnys Moni trotted steady with his one-length advantage to the top of the stretch where Wallet took his best shot, but came up just a nose shy as Sonnys Moni got the job done in 1:54.2. It was only one-fifth of a second shy of his personal best time he set just last week. It was the third straight win for Sonnys Moni ($2.80), who remains undefeated this year.
Antonacci’s Moni Market Breeders bred Milliondollarwall while his Moni Maker Stable bred Moni Lisa and Sonnys Moni. Moni Make Stable owns all three.
Ranger ended his day with a grand slam in the bike as he also won with Chapolier (1:54.3, $5) later in the card. Ranger also netted two seconds and two thirds from his 10 starts to post a strong .478 UDR for the day.
The feature race of the day was the $25,000 Winners-Over Trot that featured a small but select field of five that was ultimately dominated by Inaminute Hanover.
Driver Jay Randall was on a mission with Inaminute Hanover as he took no prisoners en route to a gate-to-wire victory. After tripping the timer in :28.1, :57.4 and 1:25.4, Randall turned for home with the stick on his shoulder while Inaminute Hanover bolted for the line and won by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:53.4.
It was the second win of the year for Inaminute Hanover ($2.60), who has now earned $119,680 in only 15 starts this year for owner Beauty Bridle Racing Stable and trainer Jake Huff.
The Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in race nine and provided a stout payoff. The single unique combination of 1-4-8-5-6 returned $8,341.26 for a 20-cent wager.
Live harness racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)