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Apr 5, 2019

When Plainridge Park opens their doors to welcome racing fans to the start of the 2019 live harness racing meet on Monday (Apr. 8), they will also be celebrating their 20^th year of operations hosting the Standardbred sport.

Plainridge Park (then Plainridge Racecourse) held their grand opening in April of 1999 when an overflow crowd of 4,500 guests filled the parking lots and jammed the grandstand to witness the first live harness racing in the Commonwealth since FoxboroPark closed two years earlier. The track offered 14 races that first afternoon with an average purse of $3,900. Fans cheered as Worth Mentioning won the very first race by 12 lengths in 2:00.1 with Steve Smith driving.

Two decades later, Plainridge Park has risen to new heights on the strength of the new $115 million casino complex that opened in 2015. Since then the racing product has benefitted from enhanced overnight purses of up to $20,000 per race as a result ever since thanks to the proceeds from gaming that go towards the track’s purse account through the Massachusetts Race Horse Development Fund.

Since the casino opened the facility at Plainridge Park has created significant economic benefits for local residents by generated as much as $186 million in annual revenue as well as employ 500 people who work at the site as stated in a December 2018 report by the University of Massachusetts.

Plainridge Park’s 2019 meet features 108-days of live harness racing held every Monday, Thursday and Friday through November 29. Sunday racing will be added from September 29 through October 27. Post time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on all race days through August. It will then move to 2:00 p.m. during September and October and move once more to 1 p.m. for the final month of racing in November.

Plainridge Park will...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today its latest Cross Country Pick 5 offering featuring an all graded stakes sequence from Aqueduct Racetrack and Keeneland on Saturday, April 6.

The multi-race wager will include: The Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial and the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap from the Big A; along with the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison; the Grade 1, $500,000 Ashland; and the Grade 2, $1 million Toyota Blue Grass from Keeneland.

The Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets will be part of a live national broadcast on NBCSN from 5:30-7:30 p.m., scheduled to also include the Grade 2 Blue Grass and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby from Santa Anita Park.

Prior to the NBCSN broadcast, FOX Sports Saturday At The Races will air the major stakes, including the Grade 1 Carter, leading up to the Wood Memorial with national coverage on FS2 beginning at 4 p.m. and regional coverage in the tri-state area on MSG+ starting at 3 p.m.

Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 wager kicks off with the Grade 1 Madison (Race 8, 5:10 p.m.) for fillies and mares, 4-years-old and up going seven furlongs at Keeneland. The nine-horse field will feature the return of multiple graded stakes winner Shamrock Rose for trainer Mark Casse, who will look to improve cutting back in distance off a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Azeri on March 16 at Oaklawn Park.

Leg 2, the Grade 1 Carter for 4-year-olds and up going seven furlongs, features 4-year-old colt World of Trouble, for trainer Jason Servis, who will look to earn his first graded stakes win when taking on last year’s Wood Memorial winner Vino Rosso.

The third leg, a contentious eight-horse Ashland field (Race 9, 5:45 p.m.) at Keeneland, will put 100 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points on the line in a race headlined by two-time Grade 1-winning filly Jaywalk.

The action will shift back to Aqueduct for the penultimate leg, the featured...

Some insights into tonight’s racing program for our IdaBet.com players:

1ST RACE – (3) DONAU is number we’re gonna try once again after doing a solid for us two back, unable to reach in last. Some of ‘costlier’ foes make it tough.

2ND RACE – (5) LAST CHAPTER is an ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix’ nod, after he eased past same level when gazed in latest. Figure another mid-pack getaway here.

4TH RACE – (3) BEYONDTHESILENCE N offered second-tier lane pace in his last, now back with ‘tagged’ crowd. Has had ample shots against these, though.

6TH RACE – (4) QUEEN LOSTRIS N did not embarrass in her Matchmaker tries, but won’t complain about getting out of there. Versatile lass has options here.

8TH RACE – (3) BETTERB CHEVRON N has not been able to crack upper Matchmaker echelon, but confirmed closer draws inner half again. Taking a flyer.

11TH RACE – (3) QUITE A DELIGHT N is tepid choice at best in hard-to-figure event. Saved ground for third this level latest, leaves against suspect lasses?

$2 +/- (thru Tue., Apr. 2) – 61 wins ($389.80)
from 352 ($704) selex (-$314.20, ask about generic alternative)

highest-priced winner – MALNIFICENT ($24)
lowest-priced winner – SEASWIFT JOY N ($2.50)

BY FRANK DRUCKER

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Attached are the program changes & tip sheet for 4-5-19 at Sunland Park for our IdaBet.com players:

Thank you for your continued support of Sunland and IdaBet.com!

Today’s “Lock” is at Cal-Expo on race 5 with the #6- Midnight Redezvous-Drops again and looks tons the best in this group. Nathan Sobey drives.

Last “Lock’ was off the board. Howard’s record now stands at: 373 of 605 wins with 117 seconds and 30 thirds.

Good luck today and thank you for choosing IdaBet.com!

Yonkers IdaBet.com players! Free PPs from Yonkers Raceway  as you make your wagering considerations.
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