Monday afternoon’s card at Saratoga Casino Hotel was comprised of 11 trotting races, with the “Bullet” Bob Meyer Memorial Trot Series Final the featured event.
The two-leg series saw four different winners among the four $10,000 divisions which made for a final that appeared up-for-grabs.
With no clear cut favourite, the $20,000 final wound up with a great stretch drive which was primarily comprised of three of the division winners. Tymal Tullo (Alek Chartrand) took over the lead turning for home after toughing out a first-over journey and had the favoured Amazing Sevens (Jay Randall) and series force Im Not Vanilla (Brett Beckwith) closing in from the back of the pack.
Im Not Vanilla, who was more than nine lengths off the lead at the half mile, came charging hard on the outside to track down his rivals and secure the victory in 1:59.4. The runner- up as the 1-5 betting favourite in his division of leg two of the series, the Jackie Cantine-trained Im Not Vanilla just missed the series sweep but prevailed when it counted the most.
Paying $10.20 to win in the mild upset, Im Not Vanilla led an Exacta with Tymal Tullo second that returned $32.20 and a Trifecta with Amazing Sevens third that came back $47.80.
Im Not Vanilla is owned by Jeff Cantine of Ballston Spa, NY.
The series, formerly called the Holiday Trot, is now named in honour of long-time track announcer Bob Meyer who was most commonly known as the voice of Yonkers Raceway before coming here to Saratoga at the turn of the century. Meyer passed away almost two years ago and now has this series named in his memory.
Live racing resumes on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga with first post time set for 12 p.m.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)