Trainer Brett Derue won an Open for the second consecutive afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The track’s leading trainer in 2023, Derue currently sits fifth in the standings this season. On Wednesday’s matinee, Derue’s Waitforever N (American Ideal) scored her first victory of the year when she won a photo in the $16,000 Fillies and Mares Open with Brett Beckwith in the sulky. Waitforever N joined the Derue stable earlier this season and despite hitting the board in ten of sixteen starts heading into her Wednesday tilt was winless in the ’25 campaign. Longshot Always Watching (Jordan Derue) took advantage of her inside post position in the ladies’ feature and carved out fractions of 27.3, 57 and 1:25 through three quarters before being met with the challenge of Waitforever N. The Brett Derue trainee got the better of the Jordan Derue trainee in the stretch reeling in the longshot leader late to score in 1:52.4 over a fast track. Always Watching was a strong second at odds of 13-1 while Racy Roxy A (Jay Randall) earned the show spot. Waitforever N’s owners Picarazzi, Bullard and Derue also won the Tuesday feature at Saratoga when their Duke Lavictoire went wire-to-wire in the Open Trot. Those connections completed a double on Wednesday when their Dark Eclipse N (Leon Bailey) went coast-to-coast in a race for claiming pacing mares.
Live racing resumes on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee that is set to begin at Noon. There is a $10,253.32 carryover in the Jackpot H Five.
Mike Sardella | Saratoga Casino Hotel | Saratoga Springs, NY
Jessica Hallett photo
