The back-to-back defending Pacer of the Year at the Spa, Artful Way, came into Saturday’s tilt as a five-time Open Pace winner this season but has hit a little cold streak of late, by his standards.
Despite the fact that the Jackie Greene trainee hadn’t won a local Open since the first weekend of June, the classy veteran was still the public’s betting favourite in the feature. Frank Coppola Jr. blasted Artful Way out early and after clearing the lead, gave way to last week’s Open winner Carolina Beach (Wally Hennessey).
Riding that one’s coattails throughout, Artful Way surged up in the inside to score in the $14,500 feature, recording the win in 1:52.1. While the favourite prevailed, the race’s longshot was the runner-up as All Artist (Billy Dobson) tipped off cover and ended up second-best in his debut in the local feature while dismissed at odds of 28-1. The winningest horse in the local Open Pace this year, Carolina Beach had to settle for third this week.
Artful Way was the 6-5 favourite and led an Exacta and Trifecta that paid $61.50 and $375, respectively.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post time set for 12:15pm.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)