Custard Dolce, the 2025 Alberta Horse of the Year and an O'Brien Award finalist, made her season's debut for new connections a winning one stateside, beating the Open pacing mares at Saratoga Raceway on Sunday afternoon, March 8.

Jacob Cutting, also an Alberta native now based at Saratoga, picked up the catch-drive on Custard Dolce for the $22,602 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap and settled in third off the gate as slight 8-5 favourite Swedish Starlet N (Matthew Athearn) took control of the eight-mare affair. The early fractions went in :28.2 and :58.4. 

After the soft second panel, Cutting made his move with Custard Dolce heading into the backstretch and the duo pressed the pacesetter through three-quarters in 1:27.2. The mares on the front end raced head-to-head into the stretch with Custard Dolce mustering more to pull ahead by half a length at the end, kicking off her four-year-old season with a 1:56.2 triumph. Waitforever N (Brett Beckwith) tracked the winner's cover and finished third over the wide-rallying Soft Shot (Kyle Swift) and pocket-sitter Island Bouhinia A (Aaron Byron).

Now trained by Jackie Greene, Custard Dolce was formerly campaigned by Alberta horseman Jamie Gray and was privately sold at the end of her award-winning sophomore season in December 2025 to Kellogg Racing Stables of Queensbury, New York. The Alberta-bred daughter of Custard The Dragon out of Blue Star West had earned 16 wins in 21 starts and $381,925 purses competing mostly in Alberta stakes prior to the sale.

Making her 2026 debut off a pair of Saratoga qualifiers, the multiple stakes-winning distaffer paid $5.88 to win at 9-5 odds.

(Standardbred Canada)