Justathriller (Cantab Hall) continued his terrific season on Friday night at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Melissa Beckwith-trained trotter made his local debut in June and it didn’t take long for the three year old to make an impact. Finding a home in the winners of two but not more than five class (with an optional claiming tag attached) this season, Justathriller has been a winning machine and on Friday was the public’s 1-5 betting favorite as he looked for his tenth win of the season and eighth since coming to the Spa.
Brett Beckwith is the regular pilot for Justathriller who raced parked in the early going before clearing the lead approaching the quarter pole. The big favorite settled in on the front-end and didn’t face a legitimate challenge until mid-stretch when rival Mass Flow (Chris Long) put in a brief burst towards him. Justathriller prevailed in 1:58 to record his eighth local victory in just over four months.
Mass Flow was the runner-up while Titan On The Rail (Mickey McGivern) closed to be third as he hit the board for the fourth consecutive week. Justathriller, who is owned by William Hartt of Carmel, ME, earned the winner’s share of the $11,700 purse in one of the co-featured races on the card for trotters.
The other co-feature also went the way of a Beckwith trainee. Echo De Meautis FR (Ganymede) made his local debut a winning one as he scored in the evening’s $11,700 finale to complete a double for the Beckwith barn and a driving triple for reinsman Brett Beckwith.
Live racing continues on Saturday evening with a first post time set for 5pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser
