Tornado Tim made his local debut a winning one in Sunday’s $16,000 Open Trot at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

The Rene Allard-trained nine-year-old came from well off the pace in the feature after the favoured Stirling Cadet (Frank Coppola Jr.) posted sizzling early fractions on the front end. Sitting patiently towards the back of the pack during a first quarter of :26.4 and a half in :56.3, Tornado Tim and driver Billy Dobson swung three-wide around the final turn before charging past their rivals to win in 1:54.4 on a chilly fall afternoon in the Spa City.

Tornado Tim paid $9.40 while recording the mild upset in the Sunday Open and moved his career earnings to over the quarter-million dollar mark with the victory. Just Make Believe (Jay Randall) finished second while Flyhawk Thriller (Stephane Bouchard) earned the show spot. The exacta and triple paid well with the odds-on favourite out of the number returning $134 and $594, respectively.

The nine-year-old Revenue S gelding is owned by Allard Racing Inc. of Saint-Esprit, Que. and Kapildeo Singh of Yorktown Heights, New York.

Live racing continues on Monday afternoon at Saratoga with a Columbus Day matinee that begins at 12:15 p.m.

(With files from Saratoga)