Plainville, MA — After two consecutive third-place finishes in the track’s top class, Westbeach found solace in class relief and went coast-to-coast in Thursday’s (July 27) featured $20,000 conditioned pace at Plainridge Park.
Bruce Ranger sent post time favorite Westbeach off the gate and to the lead in a :26.2 quarter and then continued to a :54.4 half while Wolverina (Nick Graffam) followed in the pocket. A three-horse outer flow formed heading up the backstretch, led by a two-wide Sheikh Yabooty N (Brett Beckwith), and Quarrel (Jay Randall), who was three-deep. Despite the pressure, Westbeach remained unfazed and opened up a 1-1/2-length lead at three-quarters. Around the last turn, Quarrel kept coming and moved into second heading down the lane, but Westbeach surfed to the finish under a high line by Ranger to win by a length in 1:51.4.
It was the third victory of the year for Westbeach ($4.80), who is owned by William Hartt and trained by Ken Koch.
There were also two $18,500 conditioned paces that resulted in impressive miles.
In the first, Paternity Suit A (Matty Athearn) sat second behind Ideal Funding N (Jay Randall) while Adriano Hanover (Kevin Switzer Jr.) was parked outside, pushing wicked early fractions of :26.3 and :53.4. That battle continued almost to three-quarters, where Adriano Hanover started to fade. Ideal Funding N rounded the last turn and took a two-length lead into the stretch, but Athearn shook Paternity Suit A loose and he flew down the lane to collar Ideal Funding N while holding off a fast-closing Black Hawk Joe A (Larry Stalbaum) to win by a head in a seasonal best 1:51.
Jimmy Nickerson trains Paternity Suit A ($4.60) for owners Tim Bojarski and Tony Gruppo.
Athearn ended the day with three driving wins, two of which were trained by Nickerson.
Later, JK’s Champ (Brett Beckwith) got his first win in the last two years and took a lifetime mark in the process. Leaving from post four, JK’s Champ went to the front and set fractions of :26, :54.1 and 1:22.2 while cruising ahead by two lengths. That gap widened at the top of the stretch, where Beckwith sat chilly as JK’s Champ simply cruised home on top by four in 1:51.1.
JK’s Champ ($3.20) is owned by Robert Rodrigues and trained by Larry Stalbaum.
Beckwith and Stalbaum each had three winners in their respective categories during the afternoon.
Due to lightning and inclement weather conditions, the final two races of the 11-race program were canceled.
Live racing will resume at Plainridge Park on Monday (July 31) at 4 p.m.; there will be a $4,807 carryover in the Wicked Hi-5 pentafecta in race six.