Richard Ashley and Michael Cain's Stevens Saloon was a 1:52.1 winner in the $24,658 Open Pace on Monday, Sept. 22 at Harrington Raceway.

Master Rigger (Barton Dalious) fired from post one and set a brisk pace early with fractions of :27.1, :54.4 and 1:23.1 while Stevens Saloon gathered momentum and surged on the far outside in the stretch to hit the wire first for driver Jason Thompson, holding off Itsrockandroll A (Allan Davis) and Wehadababyetzaboy (Jason Green) in a blanket finish where the top five were within three parts of a length of each other. 

Stevens Saloon recorded his ninth win of the season in 21 starts for trainer Joe Hundertpfund Jr. The four-year-old Always B Miki-Lasting Love gelding surpassed $140,000 in seasonal earnings. He paid $13.80 to win.

On the undercard, Mike Casalino Jr.'s Spicey Major A ($5.40) was a 1:52.3 winner with Corey Callahan driving in a $20,139 Winners-Over Pace over Effingham (Art Stafford Jr.) and Cerulean Hanover (Montrell Teague). The win was was the eighth of the year in 18 starts for the six-year-old Art Major-Ima Spicey Lombo gelding, who is trained by Dylan Davis.

Jo Ann Looney-King's homebred Slugger On Deck ($2.20) recorded his third straight win for driver  Allan Davis and trainer Jim King Jr. The two-year-old Hes Watching-End To End Hanover colt was an easy 1:55.1 winner in his final prep for Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) stakes action on Sept. 29.

Art Stafford Jr. and Allan Davis each had a driving triple.

Racing will continue on a Monday through Wednesday schedule, with first post at 4:30 p.m.

(With files from Harrington Raceway)