Trainer Brett Derue won an Open for the second consecutive afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
During the Wednesday, June 11 matinee, Derue’s Waitforever N scored her first victory of the year when she prevailed in a photo finish in the $21,918 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace with Brett Beckwith in the sulky.
The eight-year-old American Ideal-Waitfornoone mare joined the Derue stable earlier this season and despite hitting the board in 10 of 16 starts heading into her Wednesday tilt, she was winless in her 2025 campaign.
Longshot Always Watching (Jordan Derue) took advantage of her inside post position in the distaff feature and carved out fractions of :27.3, :57 and 1:25 through three-quarters before being met with the challenge of Waitforever N. The Brett Derue trainee got the better of the Jordan Derue trainee in the stretch, reeling in the longshot leader late to score in 1:52.4 over a fast track. Always Watching was a strong second at odds of 13-1 while Racy Roxy A (Jay Randall) earned the show spot.
Waitforever N’s owners, Brett Derue, Stephen Picarazzi, Darreyl Bullard, also won Tuesday's Open Handicap Trot at Saratoga when Duke Lavictoire went wire-to-wire in 1:55.2.
Those connections completed a double on Wednesday when their Dark Eclipse N, driven by Leon Bailey, went coast-to-coast in a race for claiming pacing mares.
Derue, the track’s leading trainer in 2023, currently sits fifth in the standings this season.
Live harness racing resumes on Sunday, June 15 at Saratoga with a matinee that is set to begin at 12 noon.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)