Fresh off of a four-year-old campaign in which he won eight of his 16 starts, Rene Allard trainee Smalltownthrowdown made his 2018 pari-mutuel debut at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Sunday (May 6).

Smalltownthrowdown, by Cash Hall, was the betting public’s favourite despite the fact that he was making his seasonal bow. The bay gelding hadn’t put in a pari-mutuel performance since last December when he put in a break over Yonkers.

Following a victorious qualifier at Pocono, Smalltownthrowdown was assigned the outside post in the six-horse Open on Sunday. He got away fifth when one of his top competitors made an early break.

Smalltownthrowdown, pictured victorious at Saratoga on Sunday, May 6, 2018 (Melissa Simser-Iovino)

Leading driver Billy Dobson elected to come from off the pace with the five-year-old former New York Sire Stakes star. Smalltownthrowdown wound up encountering some traffic trouble after getting a third-over trip.

The talented trotter shifted gears around the final turn and powered past his rivals in the stretch before stopping the timer in 1:56.2 in the $14,500 feature.

Frontrunner Ulster (driven by Jay Randall) held on for second, while Zlatan (Mark Beckwith) earned the show spot.

Smalltownthrowdown was the even money favorite in Sunday’s tilt and led an exacta and triple that returned $13 and $44.80, respectively.

Live racing at Saratoga will resume this coming Thursday afternoon (May 10) at Saratoga with a matinee that will begin at 12:15 p.m.

(Saratoga Casino Hotel)