Im Sir Blake A (Alta Christiano N) came into his local debut off a three week layoff on Saturday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Erv Miller-trained seven year old is in the midst of a career season that has seen him pile up over $120,000 in earnings while competing primarily at Yonkers Raceway. The seven year old made his Spa debut in Saturday’s $16,000 Open Pace and was the assigned the outside post in the five-horse feature.
Veteran Artful Way (Billy Dobson) cut the mile in the feature and was pushed to the limit by a first-over bid from the favored Belmont Major N (Leon Bailey) while Im Sir Blake A followed his cover into the final turn. The invader powered up to take over the lead in the stretch and had enough left to withstand a late bid from Apex Seelster (Jimmy Devaux) who wound up coming up second-best to Im Sir Blake A who paid $5.50 to win as the 8-5 second choice in the wagering.
The exacta with Apex Seelster returned $17 while the triple, which was completed by Belmont Major N, came back $29.60. Im Sir Blake A, who is owned by Doug Overhiser of Shorewood, IL, paced the mile in 1:51.2, a final time that serves as the fastest for any horse this season at Saratoga. He was driven to the Open score by Shawn Gray.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at the Spa with NY Sire Stakes action highlighting a 13-race card. First post time is set for Noon.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Cheyanne Mandy
