Pumping Irony, by Muscle Mass, pulled off a mild upset in the $33,400 final of the John Mongeon Sr. Memorial Trotting Series, which was contested at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Wednesday afternoon (May 1).

Steve Genois had piloted the Eve Bergeron trainee to a second-place finish in opening leg of the series before going wire-to-wire in Leg 2. The final also featured 1-5 betting favourite Xcuse Me (who was driven by John Stark Jr.), who had been undefeated in four seasonal starts heading into the final.

Pumping Irony drew the rail for the final and wound up sitting the pocket to Xcuseme, who hadn’t faced a formidable challenge in his first few starts this season.

Xcuseme cruised through the first half in 58 seconds and was met with the challenge of a longshot approaching three quarters. All the while, Genois sat patiently in the pocket with Pumping Irony before the passing lane opened up turning for home.

Pumping Irony, pictured victorious at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.

One of just two mares in the field, Pumping Irony flexed her muscles in the stretch and surged by the big favourite to record the mild upset in a career-best 1:57.2. Xcuseme had to settle for second-best on Wednesday, while Iamnotlefthanded (Jay Randall) earned the show spot.

Pumping Irony paid $12.40 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $28.40 and $73.00, respectively.

The $15,000 consolation of the series was won by Southwind Tinker, who herself put in a career-best performance on Wednesday for trainer Dave Dewhurst and driver Jimmy Devaux (2:00).

Pumping Irony added her name to the list of previous winners of the John Memorial Sr. Memorial Trotting Series (Pop I, Order By Don, Quick Feet, Palmers Pride, Reigning Autumn and Spoiler Alert). The series honours the memory of John Mongeon Sr., a longtime horseman at Saratoga.

Live racing at Saratoga will continue on Thursday afternoon at 12:00 noon and there will be a Pick Five carryover of $2.024. The Pick Five will kick off in Race 1.

(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)