by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts

Plainville, MA — Even though he finished second in the top trot at The Ridge last week, the betting public that allowed Namesmuscle to go off at 20-1 from post one was sorely mistaken after he tripped-out to a convincing victory in the $14,000 Open Handicap Trot at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (Nov. 9).

Tom Melanson photo

Namesmuscle set a new lifetime mark of 1:55.2 with a triumph in the featured trotting event at Plainridge Park on Thursday.

Osprey Impact (Mike Stevenson) who won two of the last three Open trots at Plainridge was looking to put another notch on his belt and left from post seven with authority. With early breaks by Dony Andreas (Eric Davis) and A Nashty Business (Chris Long) the short field of six was then whittled down to four and Namesmuscle (Matt Athearn) had the best seat in the house; tucked in behind the leader getting a golden journey.

Front-running Osprey Impact set fractional times of :27.2, :58.1 and 1:27.1 and headed into the stretch looking good with a two-length advantage on the field. But Athearn tipped Namesmuscle and with minimal urging not only made up the deficit trotting down the lane, he went right by Osprey Impact and opened up a three-length gap at the wire to win handily in 1:55.2.

The time was both a seasonal and lifetime mark for the winner.

It was the ninth win of what has become a career year for Namesmuscle ($43.80) who has now earned $47,631 for owner William Phipps. Gretchen Athearn trains the 5-year-old gelded son of Muscle Mass.

In the $12,000 co-featured condition trot, Shorething Fashion (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) sat patiently behind Midnight Craze (Ivan Davies) for seven-eighths of a mile before tipping into the passing lane and out-brushing the leader to the wire to win by a length in 1:56 in a finish that saw all eight horses within four lengths of each other.

It was also the ninth win of 2017 for Shorething Fashion ($4.00) who has bankrolled $62,497 this year for owners Bob McHugh and Mike Eaton, who also does the training.

Bruce Aldrich Jr. led all drivers with four wins on Thursday.

Racing resumes Friday at Plainridge Park with first race post time set at 1 p.m. There are only eight days of racing left at Plainridge this year with he meet concluding on Friday (Nov. 24).

Please note there is no live racing on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23).