It was a bit of a speed show during the Thursday, October 1 card of live racing at Saratoga Casino and Raceway, as a pair of track records bit the dust during the New York Sire Stakes Excelsior Series Finals.
Artmagic, by Art Major, set a track record for two-year-old gelded pacers, as he scored in his $45,000 co-featured final.
The Trond Smedshammer-trained freshman sat the pocket and pounced in the stretch with driver Jim Morrill Jr. in the sulky.
Morrill piloted Artmagic to his first career victory just two weeks ago at Saratoga and followed it up with a lifetime-best and track record-setting performance on Thursday, as he stopped the timer in 1:54.1.
Morrill drove another track record-setter on Thursday, as the veteran reinsman sat behind upset winner Boxall (by Credit Winner) in the Excelsior Final for freshman trotting colts.
The Jessica Okusko-trained Boxall, who was dismissed at odds of 15-1, came from off the pace to record his win in 1:58.1, a track record clocking for two-year-old trotting colts.
Outsidecourt (Conway Court) upset the big favourite in the two-year-old trotting filly division of the Excelsior finals. The freshman filly charged past the favourite to prevail in 1:58.4 for trainer Gary Messenger and reinsman Bruce Aldrich Jr. Lyra (American Ideal) scored in the Excelsior final for freshman filly pacers, as she won on the front end for driver John Cummings Jr. and conditioner Jean Drolet. Lyra’s fifth victory of the campaign came in 1:56.
Live racing will continue on Friday night (October 2) at Saratoga. First-race post time is set for 6:45 p.m.
(Saratoga)