PR Harness the record of the oval

Pacer

Turn Left A

9 charted starts at Plainridge, 2 wins, best mile 1:54.3.

The Record

Turn Left A appears in the surviving Plainridge programs across 3 seasons, 2003 to 2005, with 9 starts for which the official chart records a finishing position. 2 of those produced wins, and the horse finished in the first three on 6 occasions altogether.

The fastest mile recorded here is 1:54.3, set on Tuesday, September 14, 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 five-eighths-mile oval like Plainridge a horse turns four times in a mile, which costs ground against the bigger tracks and makes reading one mile against another misleading.

The winner's line in the chart gives the breeding as FAKE LEFT out of MISS WINKLE, herself by RIP VAN WINKLE. Harness pedigrees are quoted in that order — sire, dam, then the dam's own sire — because the maternal grandsire carries much of the weight in judging a standardbred family.

The classes Turn Left A was entered in run to NW400PS, QUA, 20000CL, 15000CLHC, OPEN II, OPEN. 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 Turn Left A most often were Scott R Nichols (4), James Marohn Jr (3), Fernand A Paquet Jr (2). 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
Sep 26, 2005 7 6 8 1:56.3 32.90 Scott R Nichols NW400PS
Aug 30, 2005 4 8 Scott R Nichols QUA
Oct 19, 2004 8 8 5 1:57.4 11.40 Fernand A Paquet Jr 20000CL
Oct 12, 2004 2 2 5 1:55.2 3.20 Fernand A Paquet Jr 15000CLHC
Sep 28, 2004 11 3 5 1:56.2 3.60 James Marohn Jr OPEN II
Sep 21, 2004 10 5 7 1:55.1 4.90 James Marohn Jr OPEN
Sep 14, 2004 2 2 7 1:54.3 2.10 James Marohn Jr 15000CLHC
May 4, 2004 7 3 Scott R Nichols CLMHC
Apr 20, 2004 11 2 6 1:56.2 2.30 Scott R Nichols 20000CL
Apr 13, 2004 9 1 2 1:57.4 2.80 Scott R Nichols 20000CLHC
Apr 6, 2004 11 2 Scott R Nichols NW350PS
Apr 6, 2004 10 1 2 1:56.4 3.50 Scott R Nichols 20000CL
Jul 28, 2003 12 1 Bruce W Ranger NW4PMLT
Jul 21, 2003 3 7 Bruce W Ranger NW4PMLT

All horses in the record

Questions about this horse

How many times did Turn Left A race at Plainridge?

The record shows 9 charted starts for Turn Left A, 2003 to 2005. The name appears on 13 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.

What is Turn Left A's win record at Plainridge?

Yes — 2 wins from 9 starts, a strike rate of 22.2%. Adding 3 seconds and 1 third, Turn Left A finished in the first three on 6 occasions.

What was Turn Left A's fastest mile?

1:54.3, on 2004-09-14. Harness times are read as minutes, seconds and fifths, so 1:54.3 is 1 minute and the rest in seconds — the final fifth is the digit after the last point.

Which drivers sat behind Turn Left A?

Scott R Nichols (4), James Marohn Jr (3) and Fernand A Paquet Jr (2). The figure in brackets is the number of drives.

Was Turn Left A a trotter or a pacer?

A pacer — every charted start is at the pace. A pacer moves its legs in lateral pairs, a trotter in diagonal pairs, and a horse is normally campaigned at one gait or the other.

What class did Turn Left A race in?

NW400PS, QUA, 20000CL and 15000CLHC, 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 Turn Left A?

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.