On Saturday, July 21, Saratoga Casino Hotel will welcome some of the country’s top harness racing talent for the 10th edition of its biggest race, the Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace. This year’s memorial pace features a $260,000 purse, with more than $500,000 in total purses throughout the evening.
The Saturday card will also feature an exclusive wager in conjunction with Saratoga Race Course. For the first-time ever, the ‘Toga Toga Double’ will allow bettors to place a Double wager that begins with the Grade 1 $500,000 Diana Stakes at Saratoga Race Course and ends with the $260,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace. The wager option will be available at all outlets that accept bets on both NYRA racing and Saratoga Harness, and will be listed as ‘Toga Toga Double’ as the track or event name.
Additionally, there will be a number of exciting promotions for the Gerrity including a free commemorative 2018 Gerrity Night t-shirt with the purchase of a $2 race program, and 77-cent Stewart’s ice cream cones commemorating the harness track’s 77th season. There will also be a guaranteed pool of $7,777 for the evening’s Pick 5 wager.
The field for the $260,000 Memorial Pace is as accomplished as ever, with four of the eight entries each boasting more than $1.4 million in lifetime purses. The competitors include last year’s Gerrity champion, Bit Of A Legend N, whose career earnings exceed $2.24 million.
In addition to the loaded field for the Gerrity Memorial Pace, there will also be six New York Sire Stakes races on the card for Saturday evening.
The evening’s sixth race features Foiled Again, the richest horse in all of harness racing whose 100 career wins in over 300 starts have netted more than $7.5 million in purses. There will be a brief presentation ceremony for him and his connections following the sixth race.
“This is as exciting of a Gerrity Memorial Pace that we’ve ever had,” said John Matarazzo, Director of Racing Operations at Saratoga Casino Hotel. “Together with the talent of the evening’s field, Sire Stakes races and our ‘Toga Toga Double’ wager option, this is shaping up to be a night to remember for the tenth anniversary of our marquee race.”
The first post time for Saturday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. As always, parking and admission are free.
The memorial pace was created in 2009 as a dedication to Joe Gerrity Jr. -- a highly respected figure in the area’s equine development and an integral leader of Saratoga Harness. Gerrity was a breeder of horses in Loudonville and licensed harness driver before becoming Chairman of the Board for Saratoga Harness Racing, Inc. in 1987. He later oversaw the expansion and development of the facility before it became the premier property to feature Video Lottery Terminals in New York State. Mr. Gerrity passed away in October of 2005.
Below is the field for the Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace.
Post-Horse-Driver-Trainer
1-Missile J-Brett Miller-Scott DiDomenico
2-Bit Of A Legend N-Jordan Stratton-Peter Tritton
3-Killer Martini-Wally Hennessey-Ricky Bucci
4-Evenin Of Pleasure-Joe Bongiorno-Jennifer Bongiorno
5-Somewhere In L A-Jason Bartlett-Richard Banca
6-Rockin Ron-Yannick Gingras-Ron Burke
7-Rodeo Romeo-Jim Morrill Jr.-Chris Ryder
8-Mach It So-Jim Morrill Jr.-Jeffrey Bamond Jr.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)