Carrickmannon N (Lis Mara) made her debut in the feature on Friday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Chris Marino-trained mare moved first over on the race’s big favorite in the $15,000 Fillies and Mares Open and cruised by to prevail in a career best 1:52.3. Stephane Bouchard piloted Carrickmannon N to her tenth win in fifteen seasonal starts. The six year old New Zealand invader powered past the 2-5 shot Godiva Seelster (Wally Hennessey) while breaking that one’s impressive five race winning streak. Godiva Seelster had to settle for second in the feature for distaffers while Bettorhaveanother (Frank Coppola Jr) earned the show spot. Carrickmannon N returned $7.80 to win and led an exacta and triple that paid $21.20 and $81, respectively. While it was the first career victory in the Open for Carrickmannon N, for her connections owner Mike Casalino Jr. and trainer Chris Marino, it was number six in the Fillies and Mares Open in 2016 as their Campanile has recorded five wins in the Friday features at the Spa thus far this year.
Live racing continues on Saturday night with first post time set for 6:45pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
