Arizona continued what has been an incredible year for her connections racing stateside when the five-year-old Ontario-bred daughter of Up The Credit won the $20,270 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace on Monday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

Trainer Mark Beckwith is in the midst of an historic season at the Spa and on Monday, he teamed up with Hall of Fame reinsman Wally Hennessey in the feature for the distaff pacers. Arizona drew post position three and went off as the 4-5 betting favourite.

Hennessey moved Arizona out to the early lead and she was uncontested in a first lap that went in just :57.4. She really didn’t face a formidable challenge through three-quarters in 1:25.4 and had little difficulty completing her wire-to-wire victory, stopping the timer in 1:54.1 for her fifth Open score at the Spa in ’24. Pocket-sitter Laurie Lee finished second while Huntressville A earned the show spot in a race that proved to be a difficult one to close into.

Arizona now has nine wins with nine other top three finishes in 24 seasonal starts, earning more than half of her lifetime bankroll that is approaching $250,000. A 28-time career winner from 65 races, she is owned by Wendy Warren Timpano of Campbellville, Ont.

Hennessey and Beckwith teamed up for another win on the card when Smooth Landing lived up to the hype at odds of 1-9, wiring the field in a $12,838 race for trotters on a day that Hennessey made five trips to the winner’s circle in total to continue what has been a masterful 2024 campaign for the veteran driver.

Live harness racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a first post time set for 5 p.m.

(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)