Northfield: World record mile by This Is The Plan in Battle Of Lake Erie blowout

This Is The Plan made history on Saturday night in the $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie for free-for-all pacers at Northfield Park, leading at every call and winning in 1:47 3/5, the fastest clocking ever on a half-mile track.

Driven by Yannick Gingras, This Is The Plan left out quickly from post three, as did Stars Align A (Joe Bongiorno) from post four. Rather than contest the pace, Stars Align A ducked into the pocket, leaving This Is The Plan on the lead at the 26 2/5 opening quarter. Southwind Amazon (Tony Hall), who started from the outside post eight, made a wide move to take up the first-over position after that marker, but had no chance of clearing and was left out.

Gingras kept the pedal to the metal from there, reaching the half in 53 3/5 and the three-quarters in 1:20 3/5, not giving anybody a chance from the back to get close, especially with Southwind Amazon clogging the outer tier. After three-quarters This Is The Plan stepped away from Stars Align and the rest, and he was chased home to win by 5 1/4 lengths in the record clocking. Western Joe (Aaron Merriman) saved ground in the three-hole and was second-best, with Catch The Fire (Brett Miller) third after starting from the trailing post nine. Stars Align A wound up fourth and Hesa Kingslayer N (Peter Wrenn) advanced from last to fifth in the final quarter.

The previous all-age record on a half-mile track had been 1:48 1/5, set by Pet Rock at the Delaware County Fair on September 19, 2013. It also lowered the mark for an older gelding of 1:49 that belonged to Scott Rocks and None Bettor A, both taken at Northfield.

"He's been super sharp. He's been like that since he came back this year," said Gingras. "I didn't want to take any prisoners. He didn't get off on the right foot really. Joe really had a little bit of a jump on me, but he was happy to sit in the two-hole. I just let him roll. He's strong right now, and the faster you go he just doesn't get tired.

"I thought I had a shot at (the record). I'm not one to win by too much, but I got a little excited out there and let him roll through the last eight. We gave the people here a little show tonight. If he was a stud it'd mean a lot more, but being a gelding it doesn't mean a whole lot but bragging rights, but it's always nice. Records are made to be broken, and we broke one tonight."

A 6-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding, This Is The Plan is trained by Ron Burke for owners Burke Racing Stable LLC., Weaver Bruscemi LLC., J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, and Larry Karr. This Is The Plan is now a 17-time winner in his career, and he pushed his earnings to $2,206,200. He was the 2-5 favorite and paid $2.80 to win.

"This is a great horse," said assistant trainer Mickey Burke Jr. "We're watching him go around the turn, and I'm like 'he ain't slowing down.'"