Plainville, MA — Keystone Dakota is one of Saratoga’s upper-echelon pacers and is in the midst of a career year. On Tuesday (Oct. 18), he returned to Massachusetts for the sixth time this season and continued his roll in the $20,000 featured pace at Plainridge Park.

Brett Beckwith left hard with Keystone Dakota and grabbed the lead in a :26.4 quarter. After a well-rated :29.2 second panel, Matty Athearn came rolling on the outside with Sundown Kid, and that challenge pushed the pace to a more expedient :27.3 up the backside. As they raced into the last turn, Keystone Dakota maintained a one-length lead over Sundown Kid, who continued to dig hard heading into the stretch. Despite that pressure, Keystone Dakota extended his lead to 1-1/2 lengths and won in 1:52.

Keystone Dakota invaded the Bay State on Tuesday and posted a decisive 1:52 win in Plainridge Park’s featured pace. Tom Melanson photo.

It was a career best tying eighth win of the year for Keystone Dakota ($5.40) — three of which were taken at Plainridge, including his 1:50.2 lifetime mark — and it pushed his seasonal earnings to $90,745 for owner Howard Jacobs. Melissa Beckwith trains the winner.

Brett Beckwith ended the day with two driving wins, but more importantly, currently has the highest win percentage (21 percent) and the highest UDR (.335) of any driver at Plainridge Park with a minimum of 100 starts.

Kevin Switzer Jr. was the top dash winning driver for the afternoon after scoring a hat trick. Two of Switzer’s winners were trained by Elisha Lafreniere, who tied for top Tuesday training honors with Bob Marston with two wins apiece.

Live racing resumes at Plainridge Park at 2 p.m. on Thursday (Oct. 20). Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website.