Probert (Dali) made every pole a winning one on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel as she recorded a decisive win in the season’s first installment of the Fillies and Mares Open. Brett Beckwith piloted the Bruce Mattison-trained mare who cruised out to an early lead that she would never relinquish. The seven year old traveled unopposed in a first half of 57.2 and never faced a legit threat before scampering away from her rivals to record a better than three-length victory in the $15,000 ladies’ feature.
Magical Maya A (Larry Stalbaum) moved first-over approaching the three-quarter pole and while she never posed much of a problem to the leader did hold strong to be the runner-up to Probert while invader Racy Roxy A (Jay Randall) closed to finish third. Probert, who is owned in partnership by Howard Jacobs, Jim Winske and Marcus Kemblowski, enjoyed a six-figure 2023 campaign which saw her earn more than $120,000.
Tuesday’s victory was the first in three ’24 tries for Probert whose driver Brett Beckwith piloted three winners on the card and whose trainer Bruce Mattison had a pair of victories of his own. Probert paid $4.00 to win and led an exacta and triple that came back $16.80 and $39, respectively.
Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a first post time of 5pm.
Mike Sardella | Saratoga Casino Hotel | Saratoga Springs, New York
Photo: Jessica Hallett
