The strip at the Ridge was in fine form on Monday afternoon and the feature race was evidence of that as Bo Mach went the best mile of his life in the $14,000 Winners-Over Handicap pace at Plainridge Park to register his third consecutive win.
Bo Mach (Mitchell Cushing) led the field to the quarter in a brisk :26.4 before giving up the front to Sir Pugsley (Shawn Gray) who was rolling up the outside. The new leader then received no break as an outer flow was right at him with Windsun Gotham (Jimmy Whittemore) leading the way.
With the field now split in two rows with four in and four out, Windsun Gotham continued to pursue Sir Pugsley to the three-quarters in 1:23.3 while Bo Mach sat the pocket waiting to make his move. When they passed the crest of the final turn Windsun Gotham faded and Bo Mach pulled out and went right at Sir Pugsley. The two paced in stride until halfway down the lane when Bo Mach got the advantage and won by a length in 1:51.2.
The fifth win of the year by Bo Mach ($5.40) was landmark to his career as he set a new lifetime mark and pushed his seasonal income to $60,600 which is also a career high for annual earnings. William Hartt owns the four-year-old son of Mach Three-Magnify This who is trained by Lance Hudson.
In the $12,000 conditioned pace co-feature, Opus Blue Chip (Shawn Gray) followed the front-running Quick Shot (Drew Campbell) the entire race before pulling off the pylons approaching the seven-eighths pole where he breezed on by to win by a length in 1:51.3, which was also a new lifetime mark.
Opus Blue Chip ($3.40) is owned by Scott Dillon and trained by Joe Nelson.
Mitchell Cushing and Shawn Gray both had driving doubles on the card while trainer Joe Nelson had a conditioning double of his own.
The Wicked Hi-5 Pentafecta jackpot continued to grow on Monday with no winner of that bet once again. The carryover pool of $13,774 will be available in sixth race on Thursday (June 27) when live racing resumes at Plainridge Park. Post time for the first race is 4 p.m.
(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)