Knight Angel survived a wide journey to take the $10,700 featured trot at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Monday (April 26).

Knight Angel drew post four and went off at 4-1 while tasked with taking on the red-hot Lazzaro, who went as the 1-5 favourite. Longshot leader JNR Express was carving the fractions on the lead and Knight Angel again moved early, resulting in him being two-wide for the majority of the mile. He tucked in behind JNR Express briefly as they trotted towards three-quarters, but was back out for the drive and beat Lazzaro to the punch. Knight Angel cruised by JNR Express to take the lead but the favorite had open road and had every chance to go by in the lane. The chase was futile and Knight Angel stopped the timer in 1:57.2 to complete back-to-back jacks.

Lazzaro’s win streak came to an end though he did finish a strong second while JNR Express held on for third.

Knight Angel paid $10.60 to win and led an exacta and triple that came back $23.40 and $69.50, respectively. Brian Cross drove Knight Angel to his pair of victories and is now two-for-two piloting the Andy Byler-trained five-year-old this season.

Live racing continues on Tuesday afternoon (April 27) at Saratoga with a 12 p.m. (EDT) first post.

(with files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)