Twisted Pretzel, by Crazed, won his first career Open Trot at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Sunday afternoon.
The Scott Mongeon-trained seven-year-old came into the race off of back-to-back victories and was assigned Post 2 in the $13,000 feature.
Invader J A T O (driven by Stephane Bouchard) moved out to the early lead and held that advantage until turning for home. That’s when Twisted Pretzel stepped on the gas and powered past J A T O en route to his sixth win of the season.
Jimmy Devaux piloted Twisted Pretzel to each of his three most recent scores. The race’s favourite, Boli (driven by Wally Hennessey), came flying in the stretch, but was too late to get the job done and had to settle for second. J A T O held to settle for third.
Twisted Pretzel, whose win came in 1:55.3, paid $19.60 in the upset. The exacta and triple came back $74.50 and $207, respectively.
Live racing resumes on Thursday with a matinee set to begin at 12:15 p.m.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)