Plainville, MA — Blazing Home N left the field looking at his heels as he darted to an impressive win in the featured $25,000 Open Pace at Plainridge Park on Thursday (Oct. 16).
Blazing Home N (Larry Stalbaum) took the lead from Mullinax (Brett Beckwith) passing the :26.4 quarter and slowed the half to :55.1, but the pace would change drastically from that point on. Blazing Home N got into gear on the backstretch and reached three-quarters in 1:22.3 while Binge On Yankee (Kevin Switzer Jr.) was high and outside, swinging for the fences. But the ‘Yankee’ struck out as Blazing Home N extended his lead from a length to two at the top of the stretch, and then bolted home clear by 3-1/4 lengths to win in 1:50.
It was the sixth win of the year for fan favorite Blazing Home N ($3.00), who is owned and trained by his driver, Larry Stalbaum.
There was also a $22,500 upper-level conditioned pace that saw Hunting Zone avenge two close second-place finishes in his last two starts.
Hunting Zone (Brett Beckwith) set up shop on the point and scooted through quarters of :26.4, :54.2 and 1:21.4 as Rocknroll Runa A (Larry Stalbaum) stalked from the pocket. At the top of the stretch, Rocknroll Runa A popped the pocket and took his best shot, but after battling to the wire, Hunting Zone was on target and won by a neck in 1:50.
It was the seventh win of the year for Hunting Zone ($8.00), who is owned by Pollock Racing and trained by Jeff Cullipher.
Graffam scores 1,500th driving win
When Nick Graffam won the seventh race at Plainridge Park with Intothemysticmoon (1:51.1, $6.20) on Thursday (Oct. 16) afternoon, he registered the 1,500th win of his career.
The 35-year-old Graffam has been driving since 2013 and has been on a steady upswing ever since. The 2025 season has been especially good for the Falmouth, Maine, resident, as he is poised to notch career numbers across the board. He currently has 177 wins and $2,149,429 in earnings this year and has two months of racing left this year to eclipse his standing personal records that he is now just shy of.
Being one of the top drivers at the current Plainridge Park meet has helped propel him to those lofty totals. Graffam currently sits third in wins with 109 and is second highest money earner with $1,697,814 in purses.
From his 11,591 career starts, Graffam has 1,799 seconds and 1,758 thirds to go along with his 1,500 wins, and total earnings of $14,829,547.
Mitchell Cushing accounted for four driving wins and two training wins on the day. He won with Handlelikeaporsche (1:51.1, $5.00), Muse La Rouge (1:53, $6.20), Royalty’s Dreamer (1:52.4, $10.60) and Negotiator (1:52.3, $3.60), the last two accounting for his training wins. Jeff Cullipher also had two training wins.
The Jackpot Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta was also hit in the sixth race when the single unique combination of 7-3-1-5-8 returned a handsome $2,046.62 for a 20-cent wager.
Live racing at Plainridge Park will resume on Friday (Oct. 17) at 2 p.m.
Free full past performance programs and race replays for all live racing days at Plainridge Park can be found at plainridgeparkcasino.com.