Deetzy (Jereme’s Jet) has done plenty of winning in the local Open Pace over the course of the last few seasons at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Jimmy Nickerson trainee spends much of his time traveling from track to track racing against top-flight competition but has landed back at the Spa for his most recent two starts. Coming off a third place finish in his return to town last week, Deetzy was the public’s 6-5 betting favorite on Saturday night. Shawn Gray piloted the seven year old pacer and wasted no time powering him out to the early lead. Deetzy cruised through a first quarter of 27.1 and a half of 56 seconds and had plenty left in the tank for the race’s stretch run. Deetzy paced away from his rivals to score in 1:51.3 to record his first victory in the local Open this season and fourth win overall in the 2019 campaign. Panocchio (Gerry Mattison), another Spa veteran, came on to finish second in the $15,000 feature while Carolina Beach (Mark Beckwith) closed to be third to continue his “on the board” streak in the Open Pace. Carolina Beach has now finished second or third in seven consecutive installments of the local feature. Deetzy paid $4.50 to win and led an exacta and triple that came back $29.20 and $68.50, respectively. Deetzy’s win was one of four on the night for reinsman Shawn Gray who continues to drive at a high percentage in his starts at the Spa.
Live racing continues on Sunday at Saratoga with a matinee kicking off at Noon.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
