from Plainridge Park

Plainville, MA — Veteran trainer Shawn Answeeney notched a hat trick on Monday afternoon (Aug. 24) at Plainridge Park while two of the track’s regular drivers moved closer to career milestones.

The Answeeney Stable set the tone for the day in the first race on the card. Fuzzylegsandall, the former Maine Sire Stakes standout, established a new lifetime mark of 1:51.1 with driver Shane Taggart en route to victory in the Open Pace. Not only was it the fastest winning score in Taggart’s driving career, it also moved him another win closer to number 1,500.

The Taggart/Answeeney duo struck again later in the card, as Wainui Tabman N scored a mild upset in the finale. At the end of the day, Taggart had moved to within three victories of the 1,500 plateau.

Sandwiched in between, Ruel “Dude” Goodblood piloted Big Bad George, another Answeeney trained pacer, to victory as he moved to within four victories of 4,500 for his driving career.

In the ultra competitive battle for leading driver honors, Mike Eaton posted a pair of victories to take a two-win lead over Eddie Davis, Jr. Defending champion Jim Hardy is just two wins behind Davis.

Live racing returns to Plainridge Park on Wednesday afternoon, and is highlighted by the return of local favorite Shawn Gray. First post is at 4 p.m.