It’s been a terrific season in the sulky for Alek Chartrand at Saratoga Casino Hotel and on Monday, the up-and-coming reinsman recorded his first Open Pace victory.

Chartrand sat behind the Linda Flynn-trained Olde Broadside (American Ideal) who has been on top of his game of late. After going winless in his first handful of starts in 2020, Olde Broadside scored three victories and had three third-place finishes in his seven tries leading up to Monday’s start in the $9,350 Open.

One of two Opens on the matinee card, the pacing feature saw no clear-cut favourite in the wagering so much so that Olde Broadside, who was debuting in the Open, wound up as the 2-1 co-favourite in the race. The other co-favourite, Gokudo Hanover (Chris Long), cut the mile and set fast fractions on the engine.

After going a half in :55.3, Gokudo Hanover still led the way around the final turn but was stride for stride with Tenacious One A (Larry Stalbaum). Olde Broadside was third-over going to three quarters but came storming home in the stretch after fanning to the far outside. He got up to win in 1:54 to give Chartrand his first career Open win which was the first for Flynn in several seasons. Tenacious One A was the runner-up while Gokudo Hanover held on for third.

Olde Broadside is owned by Francis Morse of Schuylerville, NY.

The other co-feature went the way of invader Winning Legends (Winning Mister). Justin Huckabone trains and drives the four-year-old trotter who came in on a hot streak of his own. A winner of six of 11 starts in 2020 coming into his debut in the local Open,

Winning Legends settled in fifth in the early going before moving first-over approaching the half. Winning Legends wore down the race’s leader and took over mid-stretch before hanging on to win by a nose over late-closing Ronnie Goldstein (Brett Crawford). Gruden (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot.

Winning Legends, who is owned by Jonathan Applebaum of Yorktown Heights, NY, was the 3-5 betting favourite in the $9,350 featured event for trotters. The win was the first in a local feature for Huckabone as well as both Opens saw first-time Open winning drivers on the Monday matinee.

Live racing continues on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post set for 12 p.m.

(Saratoga Casino Hotel)