Surreal Feeling (So Surreal) has been nothing shy of surreal again this year and on Wednesday afternoon, the superstar mare added another win to her tally at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The six year old mare, who has been a winning machine over the course of her career, prevailed for the 29th time in just 79 lifetime starts Wednesday when she went coast-to-coast in the $14,000 Fillies and Mares Open. Surreal Feeling won from off the pace in her previous local try but this week driver Alek Chartrand didn’t waste any time getting the speedy stalwart to the front-end. After sizzling through a first quarter in 26.2, Surreal Feeling reached the half in 55 seconds in a race that had an accident occur in the early going at the back of the pack. Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) finished second in last week’s Open at the Spa and took her shot at Surreal Feeling in this one nearly tracking her down in the stretch before finishing as the runner-up for the second straight week. The win time was 1:52.4 for Surreal Feeling who was the public’s 3-5 betting favorite in the feature. Miss Irish Rose A completed a $26.40 exacta while invader Vicious Circle (Jimmy Devaux) rounded out a $184 triple in a race that saw Come Get The Cash be interfered with and unseat her driver before getting loose on the track for a couple of minutes. None of the horses or drivers involved in the incident appeared to be injured. Surreal Feeling, who became the first horse to win as many as five Opens at the Spa thus far this season, is owned by Chris Lawton and her trainer Dale Lawton.
Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post set for Noon.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
