Mr Saratoga held off a persistent Ideal Race to equal his lifetime mark of 1:49.4 and record his second straight victory in the $35,000 Preferred Pace at Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday night
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Driven by Keith Oliver, the seven-year-old son of Million Dollar Cam-Miss Sara Toga settled into the pocket while Ideal Race (Rick Zeron) pressed on to his outside to establish the early lead. Lucky Man (Mark MacDonald) was on the move early though, zipping to command from third as they rolled by the opening quarter in :26.1 and headed down the backstretch.
Oliver sent Mr Saratoga after the leader and he cleared at the half in :54-seconds. Ideal Race was persistent as he moved back out to apply pressure past the next marker in 1:22, but came up a neck short in the stretch as Mr Saratoga fought hard for the 1:49.4 victory. Lucky Man finished one and a half lengths behind in third.
Mr Saratoga, trained by Tony Montini for Onlineharnessowner Com 7 of Uxbridge, Ont., is just shy of the $100,000 mark in seasonal earnings and boasts $661,595 in career winnings. The victory was his fifth in 11 starts this year and 30th lifetime.
The winner paid $6.40 as the 2-1 favourite.
In other action, Art Professor ($10.90) won a $30,000 four-year-old conditioned pace in a career-best 1:50 over Fitzs Z Tam (Luc Ouellette) and Rock Me Please (Randy Waples).
The son of Art Major-Allamerican Toffee took control after the opening quarter and fended off a challenge from 3-2 favourite Rock Me Please into the stretch to win for the sixth time in 15 starts this year for trainer Ben Wallace and owners Bradley Grant of Milton and the Holland Racing Stable Inc. of Aurora, Ont.
The 14-time career winner has banked $143,750 this year and $320,807 lifetime.
For results from Saturday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.