Carolina Beach (Somebeachsomewhere) drew inside of his major danger in Saturday’s try in the $14,500 Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel and that post draw seemed to make all the difference. Both Carolina Beach and major danger Deetzy came into Saturday’s tilt with three victories in the local Open Pace to their credit in 2018. Carolina Beach drew post five in the six-horse feature and powered out to the early lead with Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey in the sulky. The four year old pacer worked hard setting fractions in lap one of 27.1 and 56 seconds and didn’t get any breather in the feature’s final half either. After clicking off three quarters in 1:23.4, Carolina Beach was asked for his best and he responded, pacing away from his rivals to prevail in 1:51.3 to record his fourth victory of the year in the local Open. Don’tcallmefrancis (Bruce Aldrich Jr) was part of the early speed along with the race’s winner and wound up in the pocket spot before finishing second to the even money betting favorite. Sassy Hanover (Frank Coppola Jr) earned the show spot. The other three-time Open winner of the group Deetzy was relegated to last in the early going and couldn’t get involved while trying to close into a 55.3 final half. Carolina Beach, who is trained by Melissa Beckwith, paid $4.10 to win in his wire-to-wire score and led an exacta and triple that came back $18.60 and $88, respectively. The win was the tenth overall in ’18 for Carolina Beach who is enjoying his breakout season at the Spa.
Live racing resumes on Tuesday evening at Saratoga with a first post time set for 7:05pm.
Mike Sardella
