Plainville, MA — Swedish Starlet N left hard and finished strong as she went the mile of her life in the $25,000 Open Handicap Pace for fillies and mares at Plainridge Park on Tuesday (Sept. 17).
Matty Athearn sent Swedish Starlet N to the front and fought with Side Piece (Drew Monti) to the quarter in :25.3. Side Piece finally took the lead in front of the stands and then rolled to the half in :54.1. The top two positions remained unchanged up the backside before Racin Hungry (Brett Beckwith) pulled first-over from third and got in the mix.
Side Piece continued her command in the last turn as the field bunched for the stretch drive. As they made their way into the lane, The Pantheist (Shawn Gray) and Quarrel (Bruce Ranger) were fanning out three- and four-deep on Side Piece, who still had Swedish Starlet N locked in along the pegs. But Athearn finally found room six pylons from the wire and bolted through the daylight to a three-quarter-length victory in 1:50.1, giving the mare a new lifetime mark.
It was the 11th win of the year — seventh at Plainridge — for Swedish Starlet N ($3.60), and it pushed her earnings to $143,780 for owners Tim Bojarski and Tony Gruppo. Jimmy Nickerson trains the 7-year-old daughter of Mach Three-Top Of The Pile.
Swedish Starlet N was one of three winners for Athearn on Tuesday.
The undercard was a $20,000 distaff conditioned pace over 1-1/4 miles, and Seaside Tina set a new track record for the distance.
Drew Campbell sat second with Seaside Tina behind Violets Rainbow (Bruce Ranger) through fractions of :28.4, :57, 1:25.1 and 1:52.3. After the race came out of the last turn, Campbell had an opening and tipped Seaside Tina to the middle of the track, where she eagerly paced away to a two-length victory in 2:20.4, replacing the old standard of 2:22.
It was the seventh win of the year — all at Plainridge — and second consecutive win at this distance for Seaside Tina ($9.40), who is owned by trainer Mark Eaton in partnership with Robert Griffin.
Brett Beckwith also finished the day with a driving hat trick.
Racing at Plainridge Park resumes on Thursday (Sept. 19) at 2 p.m. There will be a $1,887 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 in race six.