Pastrnak makes every post a winner in $20,000 feature

Plainville, MA — On Tuesday (Oct. 13) afternoon, Plainridge Park featured a special $20,000 pace for 3-year-old Massachusetts-bred pacers who are currently competing in the $3.2 million Massachusetts Breeder Stakes and Pastrnak (Captain Crunch) scored his second harness racing win of the year with a gate to wire effort.

Pastrnak (Mitchell Cushing) left fast and reached the quarter on top by four lengths in :27.4. With Daisy Dudes (Matty Athearn) sitting in the loose pocket, Pastrnak paced unassaulted to the half in :56.4 and three-quarters in 1:24.4, before entering the last turn. About halfway through that bend, Daisy Dudes left the pocket and started to advance on the leader. But as she was getting in gear, Daisy Dudes made a break, leaving a clear path for Coach Cry (Bruce Ranger) to chase Pastrnak. Coach Cry made up ground rapidly as Pastrnak fought to hold him at bay and as they reached the wire, Pastrnak hung on by one-half length and won in a lifetime best, 1:54.1.

PASTERNAK REPLAY

Pastrnak ($15.00) is owned, bred and trained by Nancy Longobardi.

The Massachusetts Breeder Stakes will reconvene at Plainridge Park on Monday (Oct. 19) at 2 p.m.

There were also two $12,000 Trackmaster races on the card.

In the first, P A Piper (Jimmy Hardy) got away last and trailed until the last turn, where he moved clear at the top of the stretch and outpaced the field coming home by a one-half length in 1:53.2, which was a seasonal mark.

P A Piper ($6.80) is owned by Arthur Blustein, his driver Jim Hardy and his trainer, Jolene Andrews.

Then in the second, Bag Pipe Major (Brett Beckwith) got away third and sat there until making a first-over move past the half. Bag Pipe Major drew alongside the front-running Major Betts (Nick Graffam) in the last turn and then pulled away by 1-¼ lengths at the line to win in 1:52.2, which was also a seasonal mark.

Bag Pipe Major ($12.40) is owned by Jan Donaway and trained by Bethany Graffam.

Mitchell Cushing posted a driving hat trick on Tuesday.

Racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Oct. 15) at 2 p.m. and there will also be a $6,538 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta wager in the sixth race.

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