Plainville, MA — After taking an early lead and facing little resistance after that, Side Piece cruised to her third win of the year in the $25,000 winners-over pace for fillies and mares at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (May 20).
Side Piece and driver Drew Monti took the lead in easy fashion and set moderate fractions of :27.1 and :56.3 to the half. As the race made its way up the backside, Waitforever N (driven by Shawn Gray) headed an outer flow and applied some pressure to the leader in a :27.4 third quarter. But Side Piece was up to the task and turned back the field as she closed out the race with another :27.4 blitz to the wire, where she won by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:52.1.
Side Piece ($3.40) is owned by Janie Kellogg and trained by Jackie Greene.
In the undercard $17,000 conditioned event for 5-year-olds and under, Renaissance Deo (Ron Cushing) got away fourth as Joy In Mudville (Matty Athearn) set the pace to the half in :55.3. Mach Seelster (Drew Monti) pulled first-over and had Renaissance Deo on his back. The top four paced in close quarters around the far turn, where Renaissance Deo tipped three-deep heading into the stretch and pulled away to a 1-1/2-length win in 1:51.4.
It was the first win of the year for Renaissance Deo ($6.60), who is owned by Joshua Jay Graber and trained by Shane Tritton.
The Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta was hit in the day’s ninth race. The single unique combination of 6-2-9-4-5 returned $3,117.50 for the 20-cent wager.
Shawn Gray led all drivers on Tuesday with a grand slam that included a natural hat trick in races two, three and four. Christie Collins was the top trainer with two wins of her own.
The regularly scheduled card of racing for Thursday (May 22) has been postponed due to the forecast Nor’easter that has been predicted to hit New England. As such, that card has been pushed back one day and racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Friday (May 23) at 4 p.m.
Free full past performance programs and race replays for all live racing days at Plainridge Park can be found at plainridgeparkcasino.com.