PR Harness the record of the oval

Standardbred

Central Perk

11 charted starts at Plainridge, best mile 1:59.0.

The Record

Central Perk appears in the surviving Plainridge programs across 2 seasons, 2003 to 2004, with 11 starts for which the official chart records a finishing position. None of those starts produced a win in the charts held here, though the horse reached the frame on 2 occasions.

The fastest mile recorded here is 1:59.0, set on Tuesday, August 17, 2004. A harness time is written in minutes, seconds and fifths, so the final digit is a fifth of a second rather than a hundredth. On a track of this size like Plainridge a horse turns four times in a mile, which costs ground against the bigger tracks and makes direct comparison of raw times misleading.

The classes Central Perk was entered in run to 5000CL OP, 7500CL OP, CLMHC, 12500CL, NW250PS, NW200PS. These are condition races rather than claiming events, so eligibility rested on money already won rather than on a posted purchase price.

The drivers who sat behind Central Perk most often were Elmer L Smith (5), Gregory J Annaloro (4), Robert Tisbert (1). Driver changes matter more in harness racing than the bare numbers suggest, because the same horse can be driven for early speed or held for a late quarter depending on who holds the lines.

Every Start Held Here

DateRcFinPPTimeOddsDriverClass
Oct 25, 2004 2 7 4 2:03.2 2.10 Elmer L Smith 5000CL OP
Oct 18, 2004 2 8 3 2:02.1 12.50 Elmer L Smith 5000CL OP
Sep 27, 2004 2 6 3 2:01.0 47.90 Elmer L Smith 7500CL OP
Sep 13, 2004 11 1 Elmer Louis Smith CLMHC
Sep 7, 2004 6 4 8 2:01.2 59.00 Elmer L Smith 7500CL OP
Aug 17, 2004 4 5 4 1:59.0 17.90 Elmer L Smith 7500CL OP
Aug 10, 2004 2 3 2 2:00.1 22.50 Donald V Guidette Jr 12500CL
May 1, 2004 6 5 6 2:02.2 6.90 Gregory J Annaloro NW250PS
Apr 17, 2004 6 3 7 2:02.0 4.60 Gregory J Annaloro NW200PS
Apr 5, 2004 4 4 6 2:06.2 22.90 Gregory J Annaloro NW250PS
Nov 25, 2003 6 4 6 2:02.3 13.00 Gregory J Annaloro NW250PS
Nov 11, 2003 5 5 James E Hardy 3000CL OP
Nov 4, 2003 8 1 James E Hardy 5000CL OP
Oct 25, 2003 8 5 James E Hardy NW200PS
Sep 15, 2003 10 4 James E Hardy FMOPEN
Sep 2, 2003 9 2 James E Hardy NW4500L6
Jul 14, 2003 10 9 James E Hardy 10000CL OP
May 3, 2003 8 7 6 - 10.70 Robert Tisbert 3000CL OP

All horses in the record

Questions about this horse

Did Central Perk ever win here?

Not in the charts recovered here. Central Perk shows 11 starts without a win, though there were 2 placings — 0 second and 2 third — in the first three.

What is the best time recorded for Central Perk?

1:59.0, on 2004-08-17. Harness times are read as minutes, seconds and fifths, so 1:59.0 is 1 minute and the rest in seconds — the final fifth is the digit after the last point.

Who drove Central Perk?

Elmer L Smith (5), Gregory J Annaloro (4) and Robert Tisbert (1), plus 1 other driver taking the remainder. The figure in brackets is the number of drives.

Was Central Perk a trotter or a pacer?

Both gaits appear in this record: trot and pace. That is unusual and is worth reading as the chart wrote it rather than as a settled fact.

Which conditions was Central Perk entered under?

5000CL OP, 7500CL OP, CLMHC and 12500CL, plus 6 other conditions. Each code is a set of eligibility conditions rather than a grade — the class pages explain what each one admitted.

What were the odds on Central Perk?

The shortest price in the recovered charts is 2.10 to one. Odds are the closing figures printed on the chart, so they reflect what the pool decided at the off, not a forecast.

How often did Central Perk go to the gate here?

The record shows 11 charted starts for Central Perk, 2003 to 2004. The name appears on 18 race days in all once entry sheets are counted, because a horse can be drawn into a race and then scratched before it is run. That is what the programmes and result sheets hold, not necessarily the horse's full career: starts made at other tracks are outside this record.