Plainville, MA — After following cover for the better part of the mile, the greatly overlooked Swifty Lazar got up in the shadow of the wire at 30-1 to score his fourth win of the year in the $14,000 Trackmaster featured pace at Plainridge Park on Friday (Nov. 7) afternoon.
Swifty Lazar (Brad Irvine) got away last as Rollinwithhottoddy (Fern Paquet Jr.) took the lead at the quarter before releasing Beach Watch (Nick Graffam) to the point, who then strolled to the half in a stodgy :58.1. The slow pace initiated an outer flow led by Wainapedia (Matty Athearn) and had Swifty Lazar following third-over in the breeze.
Positions remained unchanged and in two rows up the backstretch and around the last turn until the seven-eighths when Clearwater Courage (Nick Graffam) tipped three-deep and Swifty Lazar went four-wide around him for the drive to the line. With the entire field now strewn across the track, all the horses had a shot and were within two lengths of each other in deep stretch. But Swifty Lazar had the best foot on this day and won by a nose in 1:55.2.
Swifty Lazar ($63.40) is owned and trained by Laura Shock.
Drivers Nick Graffam, Brad Irvine, Bruce Ranger and Kevin Switzer Jr. all had two wins apiece on Friday while 10 different trainers each won one race.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday (Nov. 10) at 1 p.m.
Free full past performance programs and race replays for all live racing days at Plainridge Park can be found at plainridgeparkcasino.com.