Plainville, MA — After leading the race from start to finish, Kazio DK captured his first victory at Plainridge Park by winning the featured $27,500 Open Handicap Trot in a career-best clocking.
Kevin Switzer Jr. pushed Kazio DK right to the front and set solid fractions of :27.2 and :57.1 to the half, with Memorynimagination (Matty Athearn) intently sitting in the pocket. At that point, Spaaaanzano (Drew Monti) pulled first-up and pushed the pace to three-quarters with a :27.3 panel.
Kazio DK kept Spaaaanzano at bay as they trotted through the last bend, but the race was far from won at that point. When they turned for home, Memorynimagination found room at the pegs and Resolve To Win (Bruce Ranger) was flying on the outside. They both gained ground late, but Kazio DK held them off and won by a half length in 1:53.4, taking a new lifetime mark.
It was the sixth win of the year for Kazio DK ($11), who is owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, Fac Racing and Yannick Gingras and trained by Joe Nelson.
Earlier, in the $22,000 upper-level conditioned trot, Pepper Wow (Mitchell Cushing) got away a gapped fifth as Ordained (Nick Graffam) sped to the half in :55.3. Ordained continued an easy leader heading up the backstretch, where Bravado (Drew Monti) moved first-over into second at three-quarters with Pepper Wow following loosely fourth in the breeze. Ordained took the lead into the stretch, but Pepper Wow, who had worked into second, flew right by him at the top of the stretch and swelled up to register a 5-length win in 1:52.3 and take a new lifetime mark.
Pepper Wow ($7.20) is owned by Kathy and Earl Beaman and trained by Ivan Davies.
Drivers Mitchell Cushing and Kevin Switzer Jr. both had two wins on the card Tuesday.
There was a big payout in the Wicked Hi-5 in the day’s ninth race. The single unique combination of 1-2-3-6-4 returned $8,296.34 for a 20-cent wager.
Racing at Plainridge Park resumes Thursday (June 25) at 4 p.m.
Free full-card past performance programs and replays for every card of racing at Plainridge Park are available at plainridgeparkcasino.com.