Plainville, MA — A total of $50,000 was up for grabs in Thursday afternoon’s (June 9) pair of Open races at Plainridge Park, and the best horses on the grounds put on quite a show.

In the $25,000 Open Pace, Always A Miki won his second straight race, doing it off a perfect trip.

Skyway Victor (Kevin Switzer Jr.) grabbed the lead, seating Rock Diamonds N (Ron Cushing) and Lake Charles (Leon Bailey), who both challenged off the gate. As the field moved towards the half, Hudson Phil (Jay Randall) pulled first-over from fourth and Always A Miki (Drew Monti) was glued to his back as they passed that second station in :55 flat.

Positions remained unchanged up the backstretch and to three-quarters, with Skyway Victor still battling Hudson Phil for the lead heading into the final bend. Just before the group hit the stretch, Monti tipped Always A Miki three-wide to get around Hudson Phil, who had finally put away Skyway Victor. As they straightened out, Always A Miki wore down Hudson Phil to gain control and then held off a strong late bid by favorite Patrickthepiranha A (Bruce Ranger) to win by three-quarters of a length in a seasonal best 1:50.4.

Always A Miki lifted off cover to notch his 12th career win, taking Thursday’s Open Pace at Plainridge in a seasonal best 1:50.4. Tom Melanson photo.

On the strength of his 12th lifetime win, the 4-year-old Always A Miki ($9.00) has now earned $452,532 during his career. Always A Miki is trained by Jimmy Nickerson for owner Joe Trice.

Monti ended the day with three driving wins while Nickerson scored two on the training side.

In the $25,000 Open Trot, Remember Titans came from far back to score his third straight victory in dramatic fashion.

Now’s The Moment (Kevin Switzer Jr.) left the gate and flew to the front along with Trix And Stones (Drew Monti), who settled in second and Remember Titans (Jay Randall), who tucked in fourth behind Funnyfunnyriddle (Matty Athearn). The field then set pedestrian fractions of :28 and :57.2, but changed on the backstretch.

Funnyfunnyriddle came first-over to apply some pressure to Now’s The Moment and pushed the third quarter to 1:25.3, with Remember Titans on his back and Trix And Stones still in the pocket. As they headed into the far turn, Funnyfunnyriddle started to fade and Randall tipped Remember Titans three deep, trying to catch the now loose leader. At the top of the stretch, Now’s The Moment looked vulnerable as Remember Titans drew alongside and Trix And Stones vacated the pocket under a drive. Remember Titans took the lead and then held off Trix And Stones in deep stretch to win by a neck in 1:54.1.

It was the sixth win in the last seven starts and eighth win of the year for Remember Titans ($4.00), who is owned by Kellogg Racing Stables and his trainer, Jackie Greene.

Driver Bruce Ranger and trainer Domenico Cecere combined to get a tag-team triple on Thursday as they sent Monimovesmountains, Wily Wally and I’ll Have A Lindy all for win pictures.

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Monday (June 13) with post time at 4 p.m. Free past performance programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website and clicking the “Racing” tab.