Clover has been on a tear of late at Saratoga Casino Hotel and on Monday, the Mark Beckwith-trained mare made her debut in the Fillies and Mares Open. Wally Hennessey has piloted Clover, a six year old mare by Sportswriter, to two of her three consecutive victories heading into her Open debut on Monday.
Wally was aggressive with the red-hot distaffer in the early portion of the $15,000 Monday feature as Clover showed early speed to make the front in a sizzling first quarter of 26.3 before yielding to a rival who took them to the half in 55.3. Hennessey didn’t waste much time evacuating the pocket when the leader appeared to be tiring and Clover pounced on that one before drawing out to a decisive lead. Clover wound up drawing away from the field in the stretch before stopping the timer in 1:53.4 for her sixth win of the season and fourth in a row.
34-1 shot Shes So Sweet (Chris Long) also made her Open debut on Monday and came on to finish second while Racy Roxy A (Jay Randall) earned the show spot. Clover, who is owned by Howard Jacobs of West Orange, NJ, went off as the public’s 3-5 betting favorite in the $15,000 Open and led an exacta and triple that paid $148 and $535, respectively.
Hennessey rattled off three consecutive wins later on the Monday card to give the veteran reinsman a driving grand slam.
Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga. There will be a Pick Five carryover of $3,351 with the wager beginning in the first race. First post time Saturday is set for 5pm.
Mike Sardella | Saratoga Casino Hotel | Saratoga Springs, NY
Jessica Hallett photo
