Plainville, MA — Brett Beckwith, who is currently the second leading dash driver in North America, significantly added to his already lofty victory count after winning five races at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Sept. 26) afternoon. Those wins included a natural hat trick — in the eighth, ninth and 10th races — to close out the card.
The win in the ninth race came with the millionaire Fourever Boy, who captured the $25,000 Open Handicap Pace at Plainridge for the first time since July 15.
Fourever Boy got away second from post one behind Heaven On High N (Bruce Ranger) and followed the leader through quarters of :26.1, :54.2 and 1:21.4 in a torrential downpour. Then, in the last turn, Beckwith tipped Fourever Boy and took the lead on the outside at the seven-eighths. From there, Fourever Boy paced home on top and wrapped up by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:50.2.
It was the sixth win of the year for Fourever Boy ($3.60), who is owned by Micki Rae Stable and Tim Twaddle and trained by Mark Beckwith. As a result of the win, Fourever Boy now has lifetime earnings of $1,020,692.
Beckwith completed his run for the thumb with Menlo Park (1:52.3, $5.60), I’m No Outlaw N (1:51.2, $3.60), General Montana N (1:52, $5.60) and Over The Horizon (1:55, $3.40). Beckwith also had one second and one third from his 10 starts, giving him a stellar .589 UDR for the afternoon.
Earlier in the card, before the weather rolled in, was the co-featured $25,000 Open Handicap Pace for fillies and mares. Prohibitive favorite Turn The Page N (Ron Cushing) grabbed the front from Swedish Starlet N (Matty Athearn) after passing the quarter and continued to lead unchallenged to the top of the stretch, where she paced home clear by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:50.1.
It was the fourth win in a row for Turn The Page N ($2.20), who is owned by her driver Cushing, in partnership with Kevin Sywyk. Heidi Cushing is the winning trainer.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Friday (Sept. 27) at 2 p.m. and there will be a $1,681 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 in race six. Also, the Massachusetts Breeders Stakes will reconvene for its second leg on Monday (Sept. 30).