Fort Washington, MD – Johnny Crites Jr.’s Spring Blake rode the pocket behind fast fractions en route to a 1:50.2 win — his fourth in a row — in Monday’s (March 30) $12,000 Open Handicap Pace at Rosecroft Raceway.
In line to Russell Foster, Spring Blake was rebuffed by J M Mandamin (driven by Frank Milby) after the pair dueled through a :25.3 first quarter. Foster then took the 5-year-old Courtly Choice-Spring Break ridgling back to the pocket to draft behind middle splits of :54.4 and 1:22.3 before re-emerging at the eighth pole and overpowering J M Mandamin by a measured length. Layton Hanover (Roger Plante Jr.) finished third after stalking the top pair throughout.
Spring Blake, now a 22-time winner in his career, has won six of his nine starts this season. As the 1-5 favorite, he paid $2.40 to win.
HI-5 HIT AGAIN: The 50-cent Jackpot Hi-5 was hit for the second time in three cards after R N B Band and driver Frank Milby rallied to a 1:50.4 win in the sub-featured $9,000 top-level conditioned pace and keyed a 2-4-5-6-8 combination that returned $3,559.85.
SCHEDULE UPDATE: The 2026 winter-spring meeting at Rosecroft Raceway features live harness racing on Mondays and Thursdays through April, followed by Thursdays and Saturdays in May through May 16. This includes an added live program on Saturday, May 9. Post time each night remains 7:15 p.m. (EDT).
Racing returns to Rosecroft on Thursday (April 2); for free past performance pages, the Players’ Guide tip sheet, and live and archived video, visit www.rosecroft.com.