There were three divisions of the second leg of the John Mongeon Sr. Memorial Trotting Series contested on Monday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Trotters had their final chance to acquire points towards punching tickets to the $30,000+ Final. The leg one dominant force cemented his series favorite status on Monday as Dewey Arnold (Deweycheatumnhowe) again proved much the best. The Dave Dewhurst trainee came into leg two on a four-race win streak and left it with five consecutive victories under his belt. Jimmy Devaux piloted the three year old trotter to yet another decisive, front-running romp in his $10,000 division of the series as he stopped the timer in a dazzling 1:55.4. Battle Queen (Billy Dobson) finished second to Dewey Arnold for the second consecutive week and locked up her spot in next week’s Final. Dewey Arnold gave Devaux one of his five driving wins on the matinee program.

Royal Soldier (RC Royalty) got a pocket trip for trainer-driver Dan Cappello Jr. and proved up to the task in his division of the series. The five year old cruised up the passing lane before stopping the timer in 1:57.3 to set a new lifetime mark and secure his spot in next week’s Final. Royal Soldier paid $6.30 to win as he ended the win streak of Cindy Michelle (John Stark Jr). Leg one winner Cindy Michelle was her race’s favorite as she came into leg two off four consecutive victories. The first-over trip got the best of her on Monday though she ended up a strong third and will be part of next week’s Final. There was a longshot winner in the Mongeon Memorial’s second leg. Ruthless Workout (Whataworkout) parlayed his pocket trip to victory with leading driver Billy Dobson at the controls. Ruthless Workout, who is trained by Scott Mongeon, sprung the upset while dismissed at odds of 17-1. The Final of the eighth annual John Mongeon Sr. Memorial Series is set for next Monday (May 24) and will go for a purse of upwards of $30,000.

Live racing continues on Tuesday afternoon with first post time set for Noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino