With no Open Trot on the docket at Saratoga Casino Hotel, the $15,525 Winners Over for trotters served as the feature on Sunday afternoon. Melissa and Brett Beckwith have teamed up for five Open wins this season with their Angel Nation who won the most recently contested Open last Sunday (June 25).
This weekend saw the Beckwith’s Chapheart (Chapter Seven) go off as the favorite in the feature for high-steppers. Being the public’s top choice in the wagering is nothing different for the four year old Chapheart who was the odds-on favorite in each of his first five Saratoga starts, three of which saw him prevail. On Sunday, Brett Beckwith left a bit with Chapheart before winding up pulling the even money favorite first-over on leader Makadushin N Cheez (Jimmy Devaux).
Those two did battle for a half mile before Chapheart began to impose his will and grind the leader into submission before stopping the timer in 1:56 to record his fourth win in six local tries. Makadushin N Cheez held strong to be second while Gigfy (Alek Chartrand) earned the show spot. Chapheart paid $4.20 to win while going off at the biggest odds he’s been in any of his local tries.
He led an exacta and triple that returned $8.20 and $30.80, respectively. The victory, which came in 1:56, was one of three consecutive on the card for young reinsman Brett Beckwith who sits in second among local drivers in the 2023 campaign.
Chapheart is owned in partnership by Yannick Gingras of NJ and Fac Racing LLC of Scarsdale, NY.
Live racing continues on Monday afternoon with a matinee that begins at noon.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Jessica Hallett
Saratoga Casino Hotel | Saratoga Springs, New York
