Millionaire pacer Keystone Horatio used a late burst of speed to rally from the backfield and take the $42,000 Open Pace on Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack in a career-best clocking of 1:48.4

.

With regular reinsman Randy Waples in the bike, Keystone Horatio trailed the field of six before unleashing a :26.4 final frame to sweep past his rivals for the 15-1 upset.

Fresh off a 1:48.2 world-record performance for free-legged pacers in last week’s Open, Major Hottie (Mark MacDonald) fired off the gate from the outside post position and reached the opening quarter in :26.1 before Dali (Luc Ouellette) advanced from third and took control near the :53.3 half.

Longshot Pangiorno (Jody Jamieson) was next to move with 3-5 favourite Bigtime Ball (Paul MacDonell), Keystone Horatio and Ramegade Bruiser (Rick Zeron) following his cover. Pangiorno was on top by three-quarters in 1:21.1, but Bigtime Ball was right there for the challenge heading into the stretch and took over midway down the lane before Keystone Horatio rolled on by for the three-quarter length score. Major Hottie finished third.

“He’s just a special horse to drive. I’ve never chosen another horse over him. He’s a special horse to me because he’s the horse that kick-started my career after my broken arms,” Waples told Greg Gangle of the WEG Media Department.

Keystone Horatio paid $33.90 to win. The five-year-old son of Rustler Hanover-Keystone Havoc is trained by John Kopas for the Estate Of George F Hempt Trust of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Keystone Horatio, who last won the Open on January 2 at Woodbine, has picked up checks in all but one of his 18 starts this year for earnings totaling $151,240.

To view Saturday's results, click here.

(With quotes from WEG)