There has been no horse that has enjoyed as much success at Saratoga Casino Hotel in the last five years as Artful Way.
The Jackie Greene-trained pacer piled up awards last decade for Pacer of the Year and Horse of the Year at Saratoga while the dominant force in the local Open Pace. Owned by the Kellogg Racing Stables of Queensbury, NY, Artful Way was lightly raced last season after suffering an injury but scored a couple of victories while competing throughout the wintertime at Yonkers Raceway.
On Tuesday afternoon (March 30), Artful Way was back in town and back into the $12,000 Open Pace where he drew post 3 in the six-horse feature. Billy Dobson piloted the nine-year-old stalwart who was dismissed at odds of 9-1.
Dobson sat back patiently in a first half that went in a fast :55.3. The favoured Some Waratah A came first over approaching the three-quarter pole before powering past the leader by three-quarters in 1:24. All the while, Artful Way took up the chase and followed the move of the favourite before gunning him down in the final strides to secure his first Open win of the year.
Paying $21.20 to win is something that would have never happened in previous seasons for Artful Way. He led an exacta with Some Waratah A second that returned $59. Invader Kerford Road A closed to finish third and rounded out a $261.50 triple. For Artful Way, it was win No. 61 in 163 starts.
Live racing continues on Wednesday (March 31) at Saratoga with first post time set for 12 p.m. (EDT).
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)