The sensational Artful Way (Artistic Fella) was at it again on Saturday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Jackie Greene trainee was last year’s Horse of the Year and is a two-time defending Pacer of the Year at the Spa. He is poised to take home both honors again in 2018. Artful Way is a regular favorite in the local feature but on Saturday night was dismissed at odds of 5-1 in the $20,000 Open Pace. Frank Coppola Jr. marched Artful Way out early and wound up getting a pocket ride for the local superstar. Starznheaven (Jimmy Devaux) cut the mile and set a sensible pace throughout but proved no match for Artful Way once that one popped the pocket around the final turn. Getting up to prevail in 1:53.2, Artful Way recorded his seventh win of the year and his tenth in the local Open! Starznheaven finished second while invader Hug The Wind N (Bruce Aldrich Jr) earned the show spot. Artful Way paid an unheard of, for him, $13.00 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $71.50 and $324, respectively. Artful Way may well be on his way to becoming the first horse in track history to earn Pacer of the Year honors in three consecutive years and perhaps just the second horse ever to be named Horse of the Year in successive seasons at the Spa.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a 12:15pm first post.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
