Sandy Sue joined the Jimmy Nickerson stable earlier this month and the four-year-old mare finished second in her first start in the Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
In the two weeks that followed her local debut, Sandy Sue didn’t factor in the feature which led to her being assigned the rail for Thursday’s try in the $15,000 Open for distaffers.
Leading driver Billy Dobson sat behind the daughter of Shark Gesture, who went off at odds of 7-2 in the five-horse feature. Dobson took advantage of her inside post to cut the mile on Thursday. After pacing a first half in :57, Sandy Sue felt just mild pressure from the race’s favourite Coveredndiamonds (Jay Randall), before scampering away around the final turn.
Pocket-sitting Spreester (Jimmy Devaux) closed up the rail in the stretch but it was too little, too late as she ended up as the runner-up to Sandy Sue who stopped the timer in 1:53.4 for her first win in the local Open. Coveredndiamonds N had to settle for third. Sandy Sue paid $9.00 to win.
Defending driving champion Billy Dobson is having another huge year at Saratoga in 2019 and added three more wins to his total on Thursday’s matinee.
Live racing resumes at the Spa on Saturday night with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)