Artful Way paced the fastest mile of the year at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night. On what was a big night for driver Frank Coppola Jr. and trainer Jackie Greene, Artful Way scored in the $12,000 Open Pace in 1:51. Coming from off the pace in a mile that saw first half fractions of 26.2 and 54.3, the five year old Artful Way powered up in the backstretch before cruising past his rivals to secure the open length victory. The track’s defending Pacer of the Year, Artful Way is now a two-time winner in the Open Pace in 2017 as he matched his lifetime mark of 1:51 set in his award-winning ’16 campaign. Betterlatethnnever (Stephane Bouchard) came from last to finish second in the feature while Don’tcallmefrancis earned the show spot. Artful Way returned $6.50 to win and led an exacta and triple that paid $33 and $141.50, respectively. Coppola piloted four winners on the Saturday card, three of which came for conditioner Jackie Greene.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon with a matinee set to kick off at 12:15pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Michael A. Panzarino
