Crockets Cullen N (Christian Cullen) was the 2019 Pacer of the Year at Saratoga Casino Hotel and would have likely taken home those same honors had there been awards given out last year. The now ten year old standout, who is owned, trained and driven by Larry Stalbaum, was the runner-up in his first two local Open Pace starts this season. On Tuesday afternoon, with no Open on the docket, the feature was a $8,500 pacing event in which Crockets Cullen N went off as the 3-5 betting favorite. Stalbaum moved his stable star out to the early lead and just rolled him. The veteran pacer went to the quarter in 27.2 before traveling unopposed to the half in 55.2. At that point, Crockets Cullen N shifted gears yet again and powered away from his rivals before checking in at three-quarters in 1:22.4. The favorite made good in the feature, stopping the timer in 1:52.2 for the fastest mile of the young season at the Spa. Sports Obsession (Jimmy Devaux) came into the race on a three-race win streak and again was terrific, finishing second to the favorite to complete a $7.10 exacta. Wyatt J (Mark Beckwith), who like Crockets Cullen N dropped out of the Open, closed to finish third and rounded out a $56 triple. The winningest horse in the Saratoga Open Pace in the past two seasons recorded his first local victory of the campaign on Tuesday which was his second win overall in 2021 as he cruised to front-running score at Yonkers in January.
Live racing continues on Wednesday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post set for Noon.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Cheyanne Mandy
