Some of the top young fillies and mares at Saratoga Casino Hotel have slugged it out for the better part of the last three weeks as part of the Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pacing Series. The Monday, May 6 matinee featured two $13,699 divisions of the third leg of the series for young distaffers which were won by the favourites.
Lady Saturn, a three-year-old filly by Huntsville, began her 2024 campaign with a victory in a "non-winners of two races lifetime" condition on April 16 before taking part in the series’ first leg contested the following week. The sophomore filly made it look easy scoring in legs one and two of the series heading into Monday’s third leg as the big favourite.
Brett Crawford pilots Lady Saturn for trainer Michelle Crawford and wasted little time moving the 1-9 shot to the early lead while in pursuit of the seasonal grand slam. Homer she did as Lady Saturn held off a mild bid in the stretch from three-leg runner-up I Loved Her First (Wally Hennessey) before recording a career-best 1:55 victory.
Lady Saturn, who is owned by breeder Dragon Tales Farm Inc., will head into next week’s series final as the one to beat as she is now four-for-four in 2024.
The other division of the Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pace went the way of Mollys Game, a three-year-old Ontario-bred Bettors Delight filly trained by Jaymes McAssey. Mollys Game came into the series off back-to-back second-place finishes before pulling off a mild upset in leg one with Chris Long in the sulky. Billy Dobson piloted the sophomore filly to a runner-up try in leg two before going coast-to-coast with her on Monday in a lifetime best 1:56.4. Mollys Game was her race’s 3-5 betting favourite in her leg three win. The McAssey trainee is owned by Delpozo Scwartz Paoletti LLC.
Live harness racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a first post time of 5 p.m.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)