Gramster, by Yankee Glide, triumphed in the $9,000 feature for trotters on Thursday afternoon (June 28) at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
The Jordan Derue trainee set a lifetime mark two starts back when he swooped the group from Post 8 to upset at odds of 34-1. Following that career-best 1:57 romp, Gramster threw a clunker the following week while on the front end.
On Thursday, leading driver Billy Dobson sat behind the favoured five-year-old trotter and got away third in the early going.
Things weren’t looking good for Gramster, who stayed inside and got shuffled a bit after a half mile was clocked in 59 seconds.
Pappagiorgrio (driven by Dan Cappello Jr.) was carving out the fractions and appeared strong after going past three quarters in 1:28.2.
Gramster shook loose around the final turn and came surging late to win in 1:58.2 for Dobson. Pappagiorgio finished second while Chili (Brett Crawford) earned the show spot.
Gramster is set to compete once again in the claiming ranks on Sunday afternoon, as he will look to go ‘three for his last four.’
Live racing at ‘the Spa’ will continue on Friday evening with a 6:45pm first post.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)