Firstup Prevails In Plainridge Feature | Standardbred Canada standardbredcanada.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from standardbredcanada.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Thursday was the first day of Spirit of Massachusetts week at Plainridge Park and enhanced purses were in effect for all races leading up to the $250,000 Spirit trot on Sunday (July 25). That made the day s featured condition pace worth $18,000 and it took a career best effort from Level Up to snare the winner’s share of the money.
Level Up (Shawn Gray) grabbed an easy lead from post two and made his way to the :27 quarter unmolested. Bettor In Cash (Drew Monti) had also left from post eight and found himself parked, with no choice but to move up in the breeze. By the time the race hit the half, Bettor In Cash reached Level Up’s wheel and he continued to gain incrementally moving up the backstretch.
Duplicated N copied his performance of last week after taking early control of the race and never looking back to win the $14,000 weekly pacing feature at Plainridge Park on Monday afternoon.
Duplicated N (Bruce Ranger) watched as Hudson Phil (Jay Randall) rushed by him to grab the lead in a brisk :26.1 before pulling the pocket to retake the top as they rolled by the stands. From there Ranger had it all under control and called the shots to his liking.
After tapping the breaks in the second panel to :29.2, Duplicated N switched into glide and posted a :27.3 third quarter that stifled an outside attack from Deetzy (Greg Merton). When they came out of the last turn, Duplicated N opened up a two length advantage that he would continue to extend as he paced down the lane under wraps, eventually winning by 3-3/4 lengths in 1:51, which was a new seasonal mark.