The Royal Harry, by RC Royalty, completed the sweep of the Holiday Trotting Series on Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 12) at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
The former Hambletonian participant didn’t have his best year in 2018 and thus qualified to compete in the Holiday Trot, which began last month.
Returning to the stable of trainer Andy Sardella, The Royal Harry had gone coast to coast in both legs of the $7,500 Holiday Trot and headed into Wednesday’s $20,000 final as the one to beat.
The Royal Harry surged out to the early lead in the final, which is his normal method, but was aided by an early break by Sweet Royalty, the public’s even-money favourite in the dash.
The Royal Harry sealed the deal in Wednesday’s final by reporting home in 1:56.3 to complete the sweep. The Phil Fluet-driven JS Trotting Bob, who was a leg-one winner and leg-two runner up, finished second in the final. Longshot CC Bank (Jay Randall) earned the show spot.
The Royal Harry, pictured victorious at Saratoga Casino Hotel on December 12, 2018 (Melissa Simser-Iovino)
The Royal Harry’s victory, which was the fourth of his 2018 campaign, came in a personal season’s-best clocking.
The Royal Harry was piloted to his trio of series wins by leading driver Billy Dobson. The Royal Harry paid $4.40 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $25.60 and $250.50, respectively.
The $10,000 consolation of the Holiday Trot was captured by Wicked Nick. Brett Crawford trains and drives the four-year-old, who had been parked for the mile and was the public’s 7-5 choice. Wicked Nick overpowered the competition in the back half and drew away to win by open lengths in 2:00.
Live racing at Saratoga will continue on Thursday afternoon with a matinee that will begin at 12:15 p.m.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)