Carolina Beach (Somebeachsomewhere) scored in the final of the fourth annual Gary Kamal Memorial Pacing Series on Saturday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
The Melissa Beckwith-trained three-year-old made his first start in over a year during the last week of September. Carolina Beach recorded his first win of ’17 when competing in the first leg of the Kamal Series as he went coast-to-coast with Mark Beckwith in the sulky. In last week’s second leg, the sophomore pacer set a new lifetime mark prevailing in 1:53.1 while wiring the field. In Saturday’s $36,000 Final, it was back to the front end for Carolina Beach who set first half fractions of :27.1 and :56.3. After cruising through three quarters in 1:24.2, Carolina Beach appeared to be coming back to his rivals a bit. While his lead did shrink in the stretch, he was plenty game and proved best, stopping the timer in 1:53.1 to match his lifetime mark and complete the series sweep.
Goose Mountain (Dan Cappello Jr.) was late on the scene and wound up second best while Beyombo (Frank Coppola Jr.) earned the show spot.
Carolina Beach, who paid $3.50 to win as the race’s odds-on favourite, added his name to the list of previous winners of the Kamal Memorial Pace which is comprised of Twin B Spy, Bell I No and Stirling Electra.
Live harness racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee that kicks off at 12:15 p.m.
(with files from Saratoga)