Northville, MI — It may have been hazy at the Northville, Mich., oval on Saturday night (June 10), but the stars aligned for the 10-year-old stallion Stars Align A and driver Kim Pluta as they went wire-to-wire to take the featured $10,800 Open Handicap Pace at Northville Downs in 1:53.2.

Stars Align A went wire-to-wire to take the featured $10,800 Open Handicap Pace at Northville Downs in 1:53.2. Renae Parsons photo.

Pluta fired Stars Align A right to the front off the wings of the gate to an eye-popping opening quarter of :26.2. They faced a challenge by Oh K Man (Marc St. Louis Jr.) to a half in :55 but Stars Align A was too good, opening up down the backstretch to three-quarters in 1:23.3. A late stretch challenge came from Gabe The Babe and Drew Neill but it was not enough to beat Stars Align A who held on to win by a half-length over Gabe The Babe who was second and Oh K Man settled for third.

Stars Align A is owned by Joshua Jay Graber and trained by Samuel Eicher. The victory was career win number 45 and pushed the stud’s lifetime earnings to $623,292.

Driver Drew Neill had four wins on the program. Art McIlmurray and Kody Massey had driving doubles and trainer Paul Cloer Jr. had a training triple while Jason Seymour had a training double.

Racing at The Ville resumes Friday (June 16) at 7 p.m. Friday night is dollar night featuring $1 live programs, $1 pop and popcorn, $2 hot dogs and beer and hamburger and cheeseburger specials.

Northville Downs races every Friday and Saturday night from now until Sept. 30 with a 7 p.m. post time. For live racing dining reservations, be sure to call Northville Downs in advance at 248.924.2073.