by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts

Plainville, MA — There will be $227,766 in purses distributed among nine events in the second leg of the Massachusetts Sire Stakes at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon (Oct. 2).

There are five non-betting races that begin at 1 p.m. and then four more contests that will go on the regular wagering menu which gets underway at 2:30 p.m. All 2- and 3-year-old divisions of both gaits and genders will compete with some very interesting contests on the slate.

George Ducharme’s Muscles Jared (Muscle Massive-Tetiana) simply crushed the competition last week in the 3-year-old colt and gelding trot, winning by eight lengths after leading gate-to-wire by open lengths in 1:55.3. That effort was not unexpected as Muscles Jared had been racing successfully on the Pennsylvania Sire Stake circuit where he finished second in the $252,000 final just three weeks ago.

But trainer Julie Miller’s Big Man Ev (Chapter Seven-Possessed By Lindy) has entered this week and comes in red-hot off the New York Sire Stakes circuit where he is the top point-getter in the Excelsior A series. He is on a four-race winning streak which includes starts at Tioga Downs, Saratoga Casino Hotel, Batavia Downs and Yonkers Raceway.

Both horses love the front end and this could shape up to be a two-horse breakaway in the short field of six.

Muscles Jared has drawn post two and will have Chris Lems aboard once again and Big Man Ev has drawn post three and will seat Steve Smith for his regular reinsman Andy Miller, who did not make the trip.

The race is carded as the third non-betting event before the regular pari-mutuel program with an estimated post time of 1:20 p.m.

Also, in the first race on that preliminary card (post time 1 p.m.) is the second round of 2-year-old pacing fillies that produced a track record last week.

Delco Dusty (Jereme’s Jet-Gypsys Good Girl) tripped-out to her first lifetime win in 1:53 and the time annihilated the old track mark by two full seconds. The trip came courtesy of Rock Me Threetimes (Rock N Roll Heaven-Love Rocks) who carried the mail on the front-end for most of the mile, setting :26.4, :55.3 and 1:24.2 fractions along the way.

This week Delco Dusty drew post one and trainer Heidi Rohr has Greg Merton up once again and Rock Me Threetimes drew post two and his conditioner Kevin Switzer sticks with Shawn Gray who also drove her last week.

A similar strategy scenario played out in the 2-year-old colt and gelding pace last week and those competitors will tangle again in race five (post time 3:50 p.m.) of the regular betting card.

Twelve (Shady Character-Sabine Hanover) got a perfect pocket trip behind Latent Print (Camluck-Affluence) before pulling in the lane and winning by a length in 1:56.1. Experience may have played a role in that win as Twelve has twice as many starts as Latent Print and has also been competing in the Maine Sire Stakes since June. But Latent Print was game in defeat and should only benefit from the outing, making this week’s rematch that much more interesting.

Trainer/driver Eddie Davis Jr. will start Twelve from post four at 4-5 while trainer/driver Scott Renz will get Latent Print underway from post five at 7-2.

Last week’s MASS action was excellent with four stakes records and two track records being reset. Delco Dusty (2-year-old filly pace, 1:53, stakes and track record), Bag O Chips (2-year-old filly trot, 1:57.4, stakes and track record), Muscles Jared (3-year-old gelding trot, 1:55.3, stakes record) and Kinda Lucky Lindy (2-year-old gelding trot, 1:58.1, stakes record) all rewrote history.

After week one, Chris Lems and Greg Merton are tied for most MASS driving wins with three and Eddie Davis Jr. is right behind them with two tallies of his own. George Ducharme leads all trainers in the state-bred sweepstakes, sending three of his stable for pictures while Frank Antonacci is second with two victories to his conditioning credit.

Here is the remaining schedule of dates for the Massachusetts Sire Stakes:

Oct. 23
2-year-old third leg — $25,000 added per division

Oct. 30
3-year-old third leg — $25,000 added per division

Nov. 6
2- and 3-year-old finals — $85,000 (est.) per division