13 races at Plainridge Racecourse, trot and pace, $35,400 in purses.
The Card
The official chart survives for 13 of the 13 races on this card. Every line carries the finishing position, the post position drawn, the winning time and the odds the board closed at as the judges recorded them.
The fastest mile of the afternoon was 1:59.2. Harness times are read as minutes, seconds and fifths
rather than hundredths, so that trailing digit is a fifth of a second — the notation the sport kept long
after other codes moved to decimals.
No. Mutuel sheets were printed without a year on them, so a sheet is only attached to a card when at least three horse names match a date of the same month and day. Nothing matched here, and no price is guessed at.
When in the year was this card run?
It was a Monday in April 2003. The meeting ran from spring into autumn rather than year-round, so a season reads as a scatter of afternoons and evenings — the 2003 index shows which other dates survive around this one.
What is the difference between the entries and the chart?
An entry sheet is printed before the race and lists the field as drawn, with post positions and the driver named at the time. A chart is written afterwards and fixes what happened: the order of finish, the beaten margins, the quarter fractions and the time. Scratches and driver changes fall between the two, so where both stand for one date they do not always agree.
Was this a trotting or a pacing card?
Mixed — 6 at the trot and 7 at the pace. Mixed cards were the norm here.
What was the total purse for the day?
$35,400 across the card. Purse is the money the race offered, split by finishing position.
Which class conditions were carded?
NW2PMLT, NW1PMLT, WO3000L6, BUNKERHILL and DEFENDER, plus 5 others. Each one is a set of eligibility conditions rather than a grade.
How many races were on the card?
13 races, of which 13 carry a full chart with finishing positions. 13 horses appear across the card.
