Powerscourt earned his first Open Trot victory on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 27) at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
The six-year-old son of Credit Winner was a New York Sire Stakes star early on in his career and in recent seasons has taken to facing top-level trotters at the Spa. Just two weeks removed from a mild upset victory in a $13,000 Winners Over Trot, Powerscourt drew post two for Sunday’s try in the $15,000 top trotting class.
Mickey McGivern pilots Powerscourt for trainer Cheryl McGivern and sat fourth throughout the first five-eighths of a mile on Sunday before taking his shot at local trotting stalwart Squee Hanover approaching three-quarters. Powerscourt, who was dismissed at odds of 28-1, charged past the leader before holding off a late bid from fellow longshot Hot Wheelz (Luke Hanners) in the stretch to score in 1:57.4. Xcuseme (John Stark Jr.), who finished second in last Sunday’s Open, earned the show spot to continue his strong start to the 2022 campaign.
Powerscourt paid $59.50 to win in the big Open upset and led a hefty exacta and triple that came back $592 and $2,346, respectively.
The winner is owned by Charles Foster, William Carroll and Mike Sentiwany, all of New York.
A McGivern double was completed when young trotter Titan On The Rail (sired by E L Titan) went back-to-back. The four-year-old matched his win time from last week when he stopped the timer in 2:02.1 with Mickey McGivern in the sulky. Titan On The Rail’s upset came at odds of 7-1.
Live racing continues on Monday afternoon with a matinee starting at noon.
(With files from Saratoga)