Control Tower put the finishing touches on a terrific Step Up To The Plate Claiming Series on Saturday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Jared Bako claimed the veteran pacer out of the first leg of the series and saw the 11-year-old score victories in legs two and three heading into his try in Saturday’s $33,100 final.
Leading driver Jimmy Devaux sat behind Control Tower in his pair of wins leading up to the final in which he drew post seven in the eight-horse field. Devaux again blasted Control Tower off the gate and surged him up into the early lead, a lead he would never relinquish.
The Bako trainee went coast-to-coast in 1:56 to conclude a massively successful series for the claiming pacer. Longshot Fatheroftheyear (Shawn Gray), the only participant of the final to not have recorded a win in the three-leg series, closed well to finish second on Saturday while Nerve Of Steel N (Phil Fluet) earned the show spot.
Control Tower moved over the half million dollar mark in lifetime earnings with the win.
Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon with a matinee that begins at 12 p.m.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)