Jewels Forreal (So Surreal) made an inauspicious local debut in the Fillies and Mares Open two weeks ago. The four year old caused interference with a rival in her first start against the top lady pacers at Saratoga Casino Hotel a couple weeks back. The Kyle Spagnola trainee avenged that disappointing first local start with a victory last week in the $12,500 Winners Over for fillies and mares when she scored in an impressive 1:53.2. On Thursday afternoon, with Frank Coppola Jr in the sulky, Jewels Forreal moved out to the early lead in the $15,000 Open and she never looked back. The public’s 6-5 betting favorite, Jewels Forreal never faced an anxious moment en route to her wire-to-wire win in 1:53, the fastest time for a distaffer at the Spa thus far this year. Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) sat the pocket to the winner and finished as the runner-up while Sally Fletcher A (Bruce Aldrich Jr) had to settle for third. Jewels Forreal, the daughter of back-to-back Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year (2007-2008) at Saratoga Dandy’s Jewel, enjoyed a six-figure campaign in 2018 behind five wins. The four year old already has two wins on her card in ’19 after the Thursday score in the feature. The exacta with the favorite on top paid $27.60 while the triple came back $86.
Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a 6:45pm first post.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
