Two divisions of the first leg of the Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pacing Series for fillies and mares served as co-features on the Monday, April 22 card at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
The ninth annual installment of the O’Brien Memorial got underway with a pair of $13,699 divisions.
Trainer Jaymes McAssey enjoyed a strong start to the series. Mollys Game, a three-year-old daughter of Bettors Delight, came into her division of the series off back-to-back second-place finishes. Chris Long piloted the McAssey trainee on Monday and showed speed with the 9-2 shot in the wagering. Mollys Game sat the pocket to her race’s heavy favourite, I Loved Her First (Dylan Huckabone Miller), and pounced in the stretch when she found open road. The sophomore stopped the timer in 1:58 for her second win of the season.
Mollys Game paid $11.40 to win in the leg one series score for owners Delpozo Scwartz Paoletti LLC of Methuen, Massachusetts.
The other $13,699 division of the O’Brien Memorial went the way of Lady Saturn. Brett Crawford drives the Michelle Crawford trainee who won her seasonal debut last week (April 16) when she parlayed a pocket trip to victory. In leg one of the series on Monday, Lady Saturn sat mid-pack before making her move to pick up cover eventually tipping three-wide and overpowering her competition en route to a career-best 1:56.3 victory.
Lady Saturn was winless as a freshman in 2023 but has begun her sophomore campaign two-for-two in the win column after her leg one romp, which came at odds of 7-5. The sophomore Huntsville filly is owned by Dragon Tales Farm of Burnt Hills, New York.
Live harness racing resumes on Saturday, April 27 with a first post time set for 5 p.m.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)