Idealsomemagic A motored from off the speed to nail the striking blow in the $250,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night (July 22).

Tattoo Artist wound up heavily backed by the betting public at 2-5 in what wound up being a wire-to-wire attempt. Jason Bartlett sat behind Tattoo Artist as he paced through first half fractions of :27 and :55.3 before asking the favourite to kick away around the final turn. All the while, longshot Idealsomemagic A, a nine-year-old son of American Ideal, followed the cover of a fellow Yonkers invader. And although the trip got the best of his cover, Idealsomemagic A continued to progress steadily as the field approached the top of the stretch.

Tattoo Artist briefly scampered away from pocket-sitter Hellabablou late in the game. But just when it appeared that the favourite was about to pull off the repeat, Idealsomemagic A shifted gears and powered up and past the leader to prevail by three-quarters of a length. 

Idealsomemagic A, who is owned by VIP Internet Stable LLC and Stratton Stable Inc and trained by Cory Stratton, became the biggest longshot to prevail in the 14 years of the Gerrity, scoring at odds of 27-1. The veteran pacer picked a good time to post a career-best effort as he stopped the timer in 1:50 to set a lifetime mark behind perfect George Brennan piloting. 

With the win, Brennan and Stratton became the 14th different driver and trainer, respectively, to record victories in Gerrity history.

Tattoo Artist finished second on Saturday while Hellabalou earned the show spot. The exacta and triple with the 27-1 shot on top returned $159 and $489.50, respectively.

Live harness racing continues on Sunday (July 23) at Saratoga with a first post time of 6:45 p.m. (EDT).

(with files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)