On Sunday (Nov. 25), Dragin The Wagon, by Angus Hall, became the fourth different horse to win the $20,000 Open Trot at Saratoga Casino Hotel in the last four installments of the regular Sunday feature.
Dragin The Wagon went coast-to-coast for his trainer, Phil Fluet, who also steers his charge. Dragin The Wagon had finished second a handful of times this season, but had yet to secure a victory in the local Open heading into Saratoga’s Sunday feature.
Fluet moved the veteran trotter out to the early lead in what became a five-horse affair following a scratch. Dragin The Wagon enjoyed comfortable first-half fractions. He clocked ‘lap one’ (the opening half-mile) in :58.2 and wasn’t challenged until three quarters when the race favourite, Cash Me Out (driven by Mark Beckwith), came out of third to pressure the leader.
Dragin The Wagon proved to be too tough for his rivals on Sunday, though, as he dug in to score his first local Open win of the season. He stopped the timer in 1:57 over a track labelled ‘good.’
Dragin The Wagon, pictured victorious at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Nov. 25, 2018 (Melissa Simser-Iovino)
Cash Me Out came up second-best for the second time in as many Sundays, while Mandeville (Jimmy Devaux) earned the show spot.
Dragin The Wagon paid $9.70 to win in the mild upset and led an exacta with the favourite second that returned $21.60.
Dragin The Wagon is a homebred of Ontario connections – James Cantelon (of Thornton), David Cantelon (Bolton) and Michael Cantelon (Tottenham).
Live racing at Saratoga will resume on Thursday afternoon with a 12:15 p.m. start.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)