Spring Blake shoots to fourth place in a row

FORT WASHINGTON, MD. — Spring Blake (Courtly choice) made it easy for his seven harness racing rivals in Monday’s (Jan. 19) $12,000 Open Handicap Pace at Rosecroft Raceway, securing early control of the conditions and avoiding pocket rival A Major Attitude for an opening night score of 1:52.3 – his fourth in a row against Rosecroft’s top pacers.

Spring Blake and driver Russell Foster were assigned outpost 8 and pushed A Major Attitude (driven by Justin Walters) and On The Cards N (Roger Plante Jr.) out of the way halfway through the first turn. After a first quarter of :27.3, Spring Blake pulled half back to :57.2, only to accelerate again down the backstretch to avoid a mild first-over bid from Rebellious (William Carter) through the three-quarter of 1:24.3.

The 5-year-old Courtly Choice-Spring Break riding had no trouble taking the win and needed only mild encouragement to hold off an inside bid from A Major Attitude by 1-1/4 lengths. On The Cards N was in an equal third place after saving ground throughout the mile.

Johnny Crites Jr. owns and trains 17-time winner Spring Blake, who paid $4.00 to win as even-money favorite.

SPRING BLAKE REPEAT

‘BIG’ OPENING FOR PLANT: Roger Plante Jr. led all drivers with four wins on the 13-race card. In addition to winning the sub-featured $9,000 conditioned pace at the top level with Andrew Fulton trainee Layton Hanover (1:51.4, $3.00), Plante reached the winner’s circle with BR Kruser (1:55.1, $15), Run Around John (1:57.1, $8.20) and Big Dream Fella (1:54, $10.20).

Foster scored a driving hat-trick; Crites and Jason Walters led all trainers with two wins each.

IT PAYS TO PLAY THE PICK-4: Thanks to the beaten favorites and the reduced 15% takeout, both Pick-4 bets on the card delivered healthy returns on modest investments. The Early Pick-4 combination of 9/4/2/1, with winning odds of 6-1, 2-1, 3-1 and 7-2, returned $670.20 on a 50-cent ticket; while the Late Pick-4 combination of 6/6/1/3, with winning odds of 3-1, 4-1, 20-1 and 1-2, earned $1,118.60.

Live racing returns to Rosecroft on Thursday (Jan. 22) with a 13-race card and an $853.53 transfer into the 50-cent Jackpot Hi-5 offered in the final race. First post is 7:15 PM (EST).

For more information, including free past performance pages, visit the Players Guide tip sheet, and live and archived video, visit www.rosecroft.com.

For full race results, click here: American trotting results.

By Rosecroft Race Course