Courageous Warrior powers to Patriot Final victory

Plainville, MA — After taking a lifetime mark of 1:50.1 last week in the harness racing elimination of The Patriot mini-series, Courageous Warrior came right back to claim the $25,000 final, which was the featured race at Plainridge Park on Monday (Aug. 31) afternoon.

Jettingtomalibu (Bruce Ranger) took the early lead, but Courageous Warrior (Matty Athearn) came roaring up quickly and gained control passing the :26.2 quarter. Once on top, Courageous Warrior held a comfortable lead to the half in :55 and three-quarters in 1:22.3, with Jettingtomalibu still following closely.

But as the race moved through the final turn, Courageous Warrior started to separate from the field and had a two length advantage when he turned for the stretch. And from there, Courageous Warrior flew home under a line-drive and won by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:50.3.

COURAGEOUS WARRIOR REPLAY

Courageous Warrior ($3.40) is owned by Curran Racing and Nickerson Racing and trained by Jimmy Nickerson.

There was also a pair of $17,000 conditioned paces for 5-year-olds and under on the card.

The first was won by Lyon’s Honeymonster (Nick Graffam), who sat second behind Johnny Lincoln N (Brett Beckwith) who backed off the short field of four to the half in a pedestrian :58.1. When the race entered the backstretch, Corbin Hanover (Mitchell Cushing) rushed the leader and pushed a :28.1 third quarter. But then Corbin Hanover broke at three-quarters and Johnny Lincoln N broke at the top of the stretch. That left a clear path for Lyon’s Honeymonster to barrel home in :27 flat and win in 1:53.4 by 3-1/2 lengths.

LYONS HONEYMOON REPLAY

Lyon’s Honeymonster ($18.20) is owned and trained by Scott Vickerson.

Then in the second, Captain Rocknroll (Mitchell Cushing) sat a close second behind Dead Mans Chain (Brett Beckwith) who sped through quarters of :26.3, :55 and 1:23 before heading into the final bend. Positions remained unchanged until just before the stretch where Cushing tipped Captain Rocknroll, accelerated like a pocket rocket and paced away from the field by 3-1/2 lengths to win in 1:51.1 and take a new lifetime mark.

CAPTAIN ROCNROLL REPLAY

Captain Rocknroll ($6.00) is owned by Mona Dodd and Joseph Bradeen and trained by Mike Cushing.

Driver Mitchell Cushing was in top form as he scored a grand slam in the bike on Monday. Aside from the aforementioned Captain Rocknroll, Cushing also won with No Guts No Glory (1:51.2, $3.40), Colt Bennett (1:52, $3.80) and Sixfingerfreddie (1:52, $23.40).

Nancy Longobardi and Randy Bickmore led all trainers on Monday with two wins apiece during the afternoon.

Racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Sept. 1) at a new, earlier post time of 2 p.m.

Free full card past performance programs for every live card of racing at Plainridge Park can always be downloaded at their website (plainridgeparkcasino.com) under the “Racing” tab. You can also watch all the race replays on that same page.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts