Respectable Dream scored his first win in the local Open Pace on Saturday night (August 27) at Saratoga Casino Hotel as leading driver Stephane Bouchard guided the Richie Silverman trainee to victory in 1:52.

Respectable Dream left quickly and tucked in the pocket behind Artful Way (Frank Coppola Jr.), who was setting blistering fractions on the front end. The race’s favourite, JK Panache (Wally Hennessey), was caught on the outside for nearly the entire mile and the seven-horse field was bunched up turning for home. Respectable Dream cruised up the passing lane late to prevail in the $15,000 Open for the first time. Artful Way finished second while Code Word (Mark Beckwith) came on for third. The third-place finish for the veteran Code Word moved his career earnings over the $1 million (U.S.) mark.

Respectable Dream paid $11.40 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $101 and $705, respectively.

The five-year-old If I Can Dream gelding is owned by Silverman, Neal Oksenberg, and Edward McEnery.

(With files from Saratoga)