Plainville, MA — Nows The Moment continued his domination at Plainridge Park on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 15) by winning his third consecutive $20,000 Open Handicap Trot.

Following a winning strategy, Kevin Switzer Jr. bolted to the lead once again with Nows The Moment and glided peerlessly through the remainder of the contest. After hitting the quarter in :27.1 on top by 1-1/2 lengths, Nows The Moment extended that lead to two at the half in :55.4 and maintained it to three-quarters in 1:24.1 while Remember Titans (driven by Jay Randall) and Joxster (Dan Daley) tried to keep up. When he hit the top of the stretch, Nows The Moment pulled away by three and Switzer wrapped his trotter up as he approached the line, where he won in 1:53.2, 2-3/4 lengths clear of the late-closing Queen Of All (Brett Beckwith).

Nows The Moment rolled to his third consecutive win in the Open ranks at Plainridge Park. Tom Melanson photo.

It was the fifth win of the year — all at Plainridge Park — for Nows The Moment ($3.80), who has now banked $66,850 in only 10 starts in 2022 for owner Sonya MacDonald. Allison MacDonald trains the winner.

Massachusetts-bred trotters enjoyed a clean sweep in the $15,000 Wood End Light for 2-year-olds earlier in the card. Heavy favorite The Wise One (Bruce Ranger) took the early lead and never relinquished it en route to a three-quarter-length victory in 2:00.1 over fellow Massachusetts-breds RFL’s Jasper (Nick Graffam) and Bravado (Mike Stevenson). Owned and bred by the Moni Maker Stable and trained by Domenico Cecere, The Wise One returned $3.40 for the win.

These horses will all be competing in the $2.5 million Massachusetts Sire Stakes, which start on Sept. 25 at Plainridge Park. That series runs through October and culminates on Oct. 24 with all eight finals.

Bruce Ranger drove three winners while Brett Beckwith and Kevin Switzer Jr. grabbed two apeice. Trainer Jimmy Nickerson also saw two of his pupils hit the line first during the afternoon.

Plainridge Park adds Sunday to the live racing schedule beginning on Sept. 18, and that’s when live racing will resume at The Ridge at 2 p.m. Sunday racing will run through Oct. 23. Free full past performance race programs for all live race days can be downloaded by visiting the track’s website.