Dilly Dali (Dali) went coast to coast in the Friday feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel on what was a big night for driver Bruce Aldrich Jr. Aldrich motivated class-dropping Dilly Dali to move out to the early lead in the $10,060 conditional/claimer for fillies and mares, a lead she would never relinquish. One week removed from a third place finish in the Open for distaffers, Dilly Dali recorded the wire to wire win in 1:54, holding off late bids from Bettorhaveanother (Frank Coppola Jr) and fellow Open dropper Bye Bye Michelle (Dan Cappello Jr), who finished second and third, respectively, en route to her eighth score of 2016. The Jose Godinez-trained mare was a big favorite in the betting while backed to the tune of 2-5. She led an exacta and triple that returned a chalky $9.10 and $16.00 in what wound up being a six horse race after three scratches shrunk the field down significantly. The victory was one of three on the night for Aldrich which was second only to Frank Coppola Jr’s five-win evening.
Live racing continues on Saturday night with a first post time set for 6:45pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
