Tuesday afternoon’s program at Saratoga Casino Hotel featured three divisions of the Step Up To The Plate Claiming Series for pacing fillies and mares.
Early on, it wasn’t looking like a day for the favourites in the series as the popular picks were defeated in the first two divisions.
The first $17,500 division of leg three went to Nora Tova as the Phil Fluet-trained and driven five-year-old out-closed her rivals to score in 1:56.2. Paying $8.20 to win, Nora Tova got the best of two-leg series winner Ol Little Shift (Leon Bailey), who had to settle for second-best on Tuesday. Nora Tova likely punched her ticket to next week’s series final, which is set to go for a purse of upwards of $30,000. The daughter of Western Terror is owned by Joe Stanislowsky of Queensbury, New York.
Doyoukissfirstdate sprung a mild upset on Tuesday aided by a break made by the race’s favourite. Jaymes McAssey trains the six-year-old American Ideal mare, who got the early lead and never looked back before stopping the timer in 1:57.1. It was the second start for the mare out of the stable of McAssey, who currently sits in the top three in the local trainer standings. Doyoukissfirstdate, who was driven to victory by Luke Hanners, paid $12 to win in the mild upset. The winner is owned by Lases Racing of Sheridan, Michigan.
A favourite finally prevailed in the final division of the day and prevailed decisively. American Tour N came in off a victory in leg two of the series which saw her put the swoop to the group to score at odds of 4-1. On Tuesday, the Brett Derue trainee grabbed the early lead and made it look easy going coast-to-coast in 1:54.3 to record the fastest win of any division of the series in the three legs leading into next week’s final. American Tour N, a daughter of American Ideal who is owned in partnership by Derue and Steve Picarazzi, was piloted to the Tuesday romp by Jimmy Devaux while the overwhelming betting choice at odds of 2-5.
Live harness racing resumes at Saratoga on Saturday evening with post time set for 5 p.m.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)