Can Am made it three wins from his last four starts with as he won a $14,085 optional claiming event on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Can Am was the 4-5 favourite in the pacing contest for five-year-olds and younger. Trainer-driver Phil Fluet was content to get away third in the eight-horse field and sat patiently with the gelding through soft first-half fractions of :29.2 and :59.4. Cutting the mile was Romantic Lou (Wally Hennessey), who also came into Wednesday’s tilt off a victory and thus was the 7-5 second choice. Can Am powered up first-over approaching the five-eighths pole and crept closer to Romantic Lou with every stride. He was still 1-3/4 lengths away from the lead when Romantic Lou hit three-quarters in 1:28.3. Those pacers sparred around the final turn before Can Am imposed his will in the stretch and raced clear to win by a length in 1:57. Romantic Lou was the runner-up, while Classic Jim (Jimmy Devaux) took the show spot.
For Can Am, the win was number six in 28 tries on the year. Joseph Stanislowsky owns the four-year-old after claiming him in late September. Can Am went coast-to-coast to score a decisive victory on Oct. 22 in his second start for his current connections, and after finishing seventh when parked the mile in the following outing, put the swoop to the group last week on Nov. 5 to score an impressive win from off the pace. The son of American Ideal-Real Long Hanover is now nine-for-60 lifetime with $74,747 in earnings. The win payout was $3.84.
Live racing resumes at Saratoga on Sunday with a matinee card that begins at noon.
(With files from Saratoga Raceway)