When the prohibitive favourite broke in the $15,000 Winners Over trot, the race became anyone's for the taking and Shorething Fashion claimed the prize at Plainridge Park on Friday afternoon (Aug. 28) at 30-1.
Gemologist (Jordan Derue) took the field to the quarter and when the 1-5 Kings County (Drew Monti) tried to brush and crush for the lead off the turn, he made a break and left a lot to be determined. The trotters remained in single-file until the half, where Wings Of Royalty (Shawn Gray) and Nows The Moment (Mike Stevenson) came at the leader in the outer flow. This left Shorething Fashion (Bruce Ranger) sitting fifth at the pylons.
At the three-quarters mark, Wings Of Royalty gained a half-length lead over Gemologist but couldn’t clear, so Nows The Moment tipped three-high into the stretch. Ranger had Shorething Fashion on Nows The Moment’s back and went four-wide in mid-stretch and out-trotted everyone to the line, winning by three-quarters of a length in 1:55.2, which was a new seasonal mark.
Shorething Fashion had been a fixture at Plainridge in past years but has been racing exclusively in New York in 2020 until this start. Returning to his old stomping grounds proved profitable for his backers as he returned $62 for the win. Sheena Mcelhiney trains Shorething Fashion for the Jesmeral Stable.
In the $12,000 conditioned trot for four-year-olds and under, Dramatra (Shawn Gray) got away fourth but took the lead by the three-eighths pole, maintained a gapped length lead around the track for the final loop and claimed a 1-3/4-length 1:55.2 win, which was her fourth victory in the last five starts.
Dramatra ($2.80) is owned by Ray Campbell Jr. and Al Ross (who also bred her) and is trained by George Ducharme.
The Massachusetts-bred three-year-old Dramatra (Trixton-Bourbon N Grits) is a three-quarter sister to the 2013 Hambletonian champion Royalty For Life and is eligible to the lucrative Massachusetts Sire Stakes that get underway at Plainridge Park on Sunday (September 27).
The team of driver Shawn Gray and trainer George Ducharme was quite formidable during the afternoon as they got three horses to the winner’s enclosure for pictures. Not to be outdone, driver Bruce Ranger had a driving hat trick on Friday as well.
With the conclusion of week eight of the season, the driver race is tight as a drum at the top with only eight wins separating numbers one through four. Drew Monti continues to lead with 36 wins and Mitchell Cushing is second with 30. But with big days put in by both Gray and Ranger, they are now third and fourth, respectively, with 29 and 28 wins apiece.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday (August 31) with post time set for 4 p.m. Please note that starting on Thursday (September 3), post time will be moved back to 2 p.m. and remain there through Friday (October 30).
(With files from Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)