Respectable Dream (If I Can Dream) pulled off an upset in the Saturday night feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Richie Silverman-trained pacer scored a wire-to-wire win in the $14,000 Winners Over with Mark Beckwith in the sulky. Respectable Dream was coming off a third place finish in last week’s Open Pace when he was dismissed at odds of 13-1 in Saturday’s feature. Beckwith moved Respectable Dream out to a pretty easy lead and by the time the favored Givenupdreaming (Billy Dobson) made his move first over, it was too little too late. Respectable Dream paced his final half in 55.2 en route to victory in 1:52.2. We Think Alike (Bruce Aldrich Jr) got the pocket ride behind the eventual winner and wound up finishing second. Seeley Man (Shawn Gray) was late on the scene to be third. The trip proved to be too difficult for Givenupdreaming who had to settle for fourth in the feature. Respectable Dream returned $29.00 to win and led an exacta and triple that paid $180.50 and $844, respectively. While it was just winner number three on the season for the six year old gelding, it was his third in the last six starts.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee beginning at 12:15pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino