Little Instigator was the dominant force in the Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pace contested at Saratoga Casino Hotel and on Tuesday, May 13, the three-year-old completed the series sweep.
Joe Skowyra trains Little Instigator, who prevailed in her local debut in April before heading into the O’Brien Memorial. The sophomore rattled off three consecutive victories in the legs of the series, each when backed to odds of 1-9, and subsequently was heavily backed once again by the betting public for her try in the $43,611 final to stay perfect through five starts on the year.
Aaron Byron piloted Little Instigator as the Heston Blue Chip-Last Time To Play filly was forced to change tactics this week and sat the pocket behind upset-minded leg two and three winner Bobby Mcgee (Leon Bailey), who set sizzling fractions on the engine. After the first half went in :55, Little Instigator popped the pocket past three-quarters in 1:23.4 before pacing past to win by three-quarters of a length in a career-best clocking of 1:54.3. J Glo (Jimmy Devaux) came on to finish second while longshot Cindys Faith (Larry Stalbaum) closed to be third. Bobby Mcgee faded late to finish fourth.
Little Instigator, who is owned by William and Sarah McMillan of Maryland, became the 10th winner of the O’Brien Memorial since the series began back in 2015.
Live harness racing resumes on Sunday, May 18, with a first post time of 12 p.m.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)