Crockets Cullen N, by Christian Cullen, has endured some breaking problems of late, but found just the remedy for those ills by returning to Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night.
Larry Stalbaum owns and drives the eight-year-old New Zealand invader who had to qualify following back-to-back breaks while racing at Yonkers Raceway.
Crockets Cullen N returned to ‘the Spa’ where he had won three consecutive starts in the local Open Pace. The morning line favorite went off at odds of 7-2 on Saturday in a five-horse feature that carried a purse of $18,000.
Crockets Cullen N has done most of his damage from off the pace in his local victories, but on Saturday Stalbaum wasted little time moving to the front end as he powered Crockets Cullen N out to the lead in the early going.
After cruising through a pretty comfortable first half of :56.3, Crockets Cullen N stepped on the gas heading to three quarters and never looked back before prevailing in 1:52 for his fourth consecutive score in the Saratoga Open Pace and his tenth win overall in 2019.
Hudson Phil, an eight-time winner of the local feature this season, closed to finish second, while Century Endeavor earned the show spot.
Crockets Cullen N, who is trained by Tracy Tarantino, paid $9.10 to win and led an exacta that returned $29.80.
Live racing continues at the Spa on Sunday. First post time is set for 12 noon.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)