Five $10,000 first-round divisions of the Jim Derue Memorial Trotting Series headlined Monday’s (Oct. 8) matinee card at Saratoga Casino Hotel, and Barn Star took the speed badge of the afternoon with a 1:57.1 victory.
Trainer Phil Fluet, who recently acquired Barn Star, also piloted him to a first-over win. The son of Conway Hall debuted for new connections off a 1:57.1 victory at Batavia and matched that effort on Monday afternoon while the public’s 2-5 betting favourite.
Invader Silver Buckeye went coast-to-coast in his local debut on Monday as he cruised to victory in a career-best 1:57.4 with leading driver Billy Dobson in the bike. The Rene Allard-trained Silver Buckeye took advantage of a couple of his rivals making breaks in the mile en route to his score in the first leg of the series. The win was one of four on the card for Dobson.
Maureen Salino’s Bonamassa (Brett Crawford) and Melissa Beckwith’s Coach Cummings (Mark Beckwith) were mirror images of each other in the series’ first division, pulling off upsets. Both sophomores stopped the timer in 1:59.3 and did so as long shot winners at 13-1. The final division of the day went to Shortie Joe, who toughed it out first-over for trainer-driver John Stark Jr. Shortie Joe prevailed in his third start at the Spa following runner-up finishes in his first two local races.
Leg two of the Derue Memorial Trot, limited to five-year-olds and under with lifetime earnings of less than $40,000, will take place on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 14), with the $38,200 final being contested the following Sunday (Oct. 21).
Live racing resumes on Friday evening (Oct. 12) at Saratoga with a 6:45 p.m. first post.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)