Cash Me Out, the 2019 Horse of the Year at Saratoga Casino Hotel, made his return to town on opening day of the ’21 campaign on Monday afternoon.
The Kyle Spagnola-trained superstar trotter went coast-to-coast with Phil Fluet in the sulky in the matinee’s $9,100 featured race for high-steppers.
A perennial champion at Saratoga, Cash Me Out was named Trotter and Horse of the Year in 2019 after having a monster season. After a solid 2020 campaign, Cash Me Out began this year racing mostly at Yonkers with moderate success before competing on opening day at the Spa.
Fluet moved the 10-year-old gelded son of Cash Hall out to the early lead on Monday and the millionaire trotter took it from there. The public’s 3-5 betting favourite had little difficulty wiring the field to register his first win of the season, stopping the timer in 1:58.1. Gruden (Billy Dobson) went a big mile overcoming post eight to finish second while another occasional Open Trot participant of seasons past Cartier Volo (Brett Crawford) earned the show spot.
Cash Me Out’s victory was the 58th in his illustrious career for owner Mike Traylor of Ballston Spa, NY. For Spagnola, the score in the feature was one of two on the afternoon as his Manruptcy toughed out a first-over journey to prevail in 2:02.1 with Shawn Gray in the bike.
Live racing takes place every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Saratoga this spring with a Noon first post time each day. The track unveiled two new wagers on the platform on Monday with a $.20 Jackpot Pick Six and a $.20 Jackpot Super High 5, the latter of which is offered in the final race on the card.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)