Veteran pacer Paradise Willie set a lifetime mark on Thursday night in a low level condition race at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Why is this noteworthy? Paradise Willie is a 13-year-old pacer who was making his 357th lifetime start on Thursday.
Trained throughout his career by Simone Noud, Paradise Willie has been a fixture at Spa for better than a decade. Competing in a $4,280 conditional pace with Billy Dobson in the sulky on Thursday, the son of Artsplace moved out to the early lead and broke away from his rivals while sprinting through a third quarter of :27.4. The “senior citizen” pacer scored by almost eight lengths in 1:53.2, the fastest time of his long career. Paradise Willie’s previous mark of 1:53.3 was set at Vernon Downs on their 7/8 mile track ten years ago as a three-year-old.
Paradise Willie, who now has career earnings of over $275,000, has raced almost all of his lifetime starts at Saratoga and is now the fastest 13-year-old pacer to ever race at the track after his dominant Thursday score.
Live racing continues on Friday at Saratoga with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m.