BJs Bequia parlayed the pocket ride to victory in Saturday night’s Open Pace at Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

Starting from the rail position, BJs Bequia moved out quickly at the start before yielding to the race’s favourite, JK Panache (Jim Devaux). The Jose Godinez-trained pacer is no stranger to the Spa, having set his seasonal mark here last year and has spanned the conditional and Open ranks in his limited local tries in ’15. In Saturday’s $18,000 feature, the eight-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover cruised past JK Panache in the final strides before stopping the timer in 1:52 to record his seventh victory of the season.

BJs Bequia scored his first local Open victory of the season and became the fifth different pacer to win the Saturday feature this year for trainer Jose Godinez.

BJs Bequia returned $15.60 to win and led an exacta and triple that paid $36.20 and $219.50, respectively. JK Panache was the race’s runner-up while Martial Bliss (Jay Randall) earned the show spot.

(With files from Saratoga Raceway)