Plainville, MA — It has been almost five months since Naturally Gifted A made his last appearance at the races and that outing was a win at Plainridge Park last November. On Monday (April 14), the 6-year-old altered son of Sweet Lou made his seasonal bow at The Ridge and once again visited the winner’s enclosure after taking the $22,000 Open II pacing feature in confident fashion.
Kevin Switzer Jr. took the lead with Naturally Gifted A and set even fractions of :27 and :56 before anyone tried to challenge. Grey Horizon (Mitchell Cushing) pulled first-over while Life’s A Puzzle (Drew Monti) followed his cover.
The group paced in close proximity heading into the final turn with Naturally Gifted A still commanding the pace and looking strong doing it. At the top of the stretch, the pursuer’s challenges began to fall apart and Naturally Gifted A finished strong to win by two lengths in 1:52.1.
Naturally Gifted A ($11.60) is owned by Richard Poillucci and David Kryway and trained by Gretchen Athearn.
There were also a pair of co-featured $19,000 upper-level paces carded on Monday.
In the first division, Flirting JK (Mitchell Cushing) made a first-over move at the half and incrementally tracked down the front-running Huntanover (Brett Beckwith) to the head of the stretch. From there he took the lead and paced away by 1-1/2 lengths on top in 1:53.3.
It was the second straight win for Flirting JK ($25.00) who is owned by Ray Lasky in partnership with his driver Cushing, who also trains the winner.
In the second split, Virtual Horizon (Drew Monti) got away third as Sonny Weaver N (Brett Beckwith) cut the half in :55.2. On the backstretch, Virtual Horizon pulled first and marched towards the leader, clearing at three-quarters in 1:23.3 and increased his lead every step from there, winning by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:52.3.
Virtual Horizon ($16.20) is owned by Kellogg Racing Stable and trained by Jackie Greene.
Driver Brett Beckwith scored a hat trick while drivers Greg Merton, Kevin Switzer Jr. and Mitchell Cushing and trainer Jeff Cullipher each had two wins each on Monday.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (April 15) at 4 p.m.
Free full past performance programs and race replays for all live racing days at Plainridge Park can be found at (https://www.plainridgeparkcasino.com) under the “racing” tab.