Monday afternoon’s card at Saratoga Casino Hotel was comprised of eleven trotting races. The featured race was the “Bullet” Bob Meyer Memorial Trot Series Final. The two-leg series saw four different winners among the four $$10,000 divisions which made for a Final that appeared up-for-grabs. With no clear cut favorite, the $20,000 Final wound up with a great stretch drive which was primarily comprised of three of the division winners. Tymal Tullo (Alek Chartrand) took over the lead turning for home after toughing out a first-over journey and had the favored Amazing Sevens (Jay Randall) and series force Im Not Vanilla (Brett Beckwith) closing in from the back of the pack. Im Not Vanilla, who was more than nine lengths off the lead at the half mile, came charging hard on the outside to track down his rivals and secure the victory in 1:59.4. The runner- up as the 1-5 betting favorite in his division of leg two of the series, the Jackie Cantine-trained Im Not Vanilla just missed the series sweep but prevailed when it counted the most. Paying $10.20 to win in the mild upset, Im Not Vanilla led an exacta with Tymal Tullo second that returned $32.20 and a triple with Amazing Sevens third that came back $47.80. Im Not Vanilla, who is eleven years old, is owned by Jeff Cantine of Ballston Spa, NY. The series, formerly called the Holiday Trot, is now named in honor of longtime track announcer Bob Meyer who was most commonly known as the voice of Yonkers Raceway before coming here to Saratoga at the turn of the century. Meyer passed away almost two years ago and now has this series named in his memory.

Live racing resumes on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga with first post time set for noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser

Sammy The Bull, trained by Gary Levine, and driver Billy Dobson won Sunday Afternoon’s “Charlie Hoffman Pace” final in 1:55.1.

Monday afternoon’s card at Saratoga Casino Hotel featured two divisions of the second leg of the “Bullet” Bob Meyer Memorial Trotting Series. Im Not Vanilla came up just shy of becoming the lone two-leg winner when the Jackie Cantine-trained trotter came up second-best at odds of 1-5 on Monday. Notmeitsyou (Chapter Seven) grabbed the early lead with his trainer Phil Fluet at the controls. The six year old backed things down and reached the half in an uncontested 1:01.2 before the favorite made his move approaching the three quarter pole. Notmeitsyou had enough left to rebuff the challenge in the stretch from Im Not Vanilla who had to settle for second while The Lindy Treaty (Chris Long) finished third. Notmeitsyou, who is owned by John Quimby LLC and the Phil Fluet Stable, paid $13.00 to win in the mild upset.

Tymal Tullo (Kadabra) punched his ticket to next week’s Series Final when the Andy Byler trainee outclosed his rivals to prevail in 2:00.3 on Monday. Alek Chartrand sat behind Tymal Tullo who tracked down his race’s favorite Itsoneofthose (Jimmy Devaux) and leg one winner Amazing Sevens (Phil Fluet) late in the game to secure his fifth victory of the season. Pulling off the mild upset at odds of 3-1, Tymal Tullo secured his spot in next Monday’s Final. The five year old is owned by Mahlon Stoltzfus of Millerstown, PA.  The meet’s leading trainer Larry Stalbaum added another pair of victories to his total led by a score in the Open Trot with his Big Box Hanover (Uncle Peter). Stalbaum piloted four winners on the card.

Live racing continues on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga with first post time set for noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

There were two divisions of the second leg of the Charlie Hoffman Pacing Series contested on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Sunday was the last chance for the pacers to earn points towards next Sunday’s Series Final. Each of the $10,000 divisions saw a repeat winner as both Northern Rein (American Ideal) and Steve’s Hot Rod (Voracious Hanover) recorded their second consecutive victory on the matinee card. The Kerin Warner-trained Northern Rein prevailed in leg one despite making an early break in his race. The six year old rallied and powered into the lead at the half before powering away for the decisive score. In Sunday’s second leg, Northern Rein had Leon Bailey at the controls when he left to sit the pocket. Bailey didn’t wait long to pop the pocket and the race’s big favorite proved up to the task. Northern Rein drew away from his rivals to record a four and a half length victory in 1:55.2 and perhaps stamp himself as the favorite for next week’s Series Final.

Steve’s Hot Rod stayed red hot on Sunday as the Andy Gardner trainee went coast-to-coast for the second straight week with Jay Randall at the controls. The seven year old pacer worked hard to get to the top but once he did, it was over. Steve’s Hot Rod became the second horse on the day to sweep the legs of the series leading up to next week’s Final. The 1-2 betting favorite’s win was his seventh of the season. The victory was one of two on the day for Randall who piloted the winner of the $15,000 Open Pace as Rob Harmon’s Macheasy A (Mach Three) swooped the group to record his fifth win in the local Open in 2021.

Live racing continues on Monday afternoon with first post time set for noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser

Monday afternoon featured two divisions of the first leg of the “Bullet” Bob Meyer Memorial Trotting Series at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The series is the trotting compliment to the Charlie Hoffman Pacing Series which kicked off on Sunday at the Spa. The series’ formerly called the “Holiday Series” have been renamed this year to honor the two longtime fixtures at the Spa. The Bob Meyer Trot first leg had two divisions on Monday with each division going for a purse of $10,000. With late board backing, Jackie Cantine’s Im Not Vanilla (Chocolatier) was the 3-2 betting favorite in the first division contested on the matinee card. Driver Brett Beckwith sat patiently in the early going with Im Not Vanilla as the race’s leader Riverofroyalty (Brett Crawford) carved out the fractions. Riverofroyalty built what looked to be an insurmountable lead around the final turn but that’s when the eleven year old veteran Im Not Vanilla shifted gears and came storming home in the stretch before stopping the timer in 1:59.4. The victory was the third on the season for Im Not Vanilla who is owned by Jeff Cantine of Ballston Spa, NY.

The other leg of the series saw Amazing Sevens (Chapter Seven) go coast-to-coast in 2:01. Driver Phil Fluet worked hard to get the Margaret Spagnola-trained trotter to the lead in the early stages on Monday. Amazing Sevens got a strong middle-half breather while just mildly contested by the race’s favorite Itsoneofthose (Jimmy Devaux) before drawing away to win in 2:01. Jeter’s Way (Brett Beckwith), another Cantine trainee, finished second while Itsoneofthose had to settle for third. Amazing Sevens completed a grand slam for driver Phil Fluet who piloted two winners for both Margaret Spagnola and Kyle Spagnola, including one in the $15,000 Open Trot with Kyle’s Cash Me Out. Fluet now sits just two victories away from reaching the 1,000 win plateau for his career after his huge Monday afternoon in the sulky.

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

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

Tuesday’s installment of the Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel went the way that so many have this season. Surreal Feeling (So Surreal) has been the dominant force in the ladies’ feature all year long and the top-flight six year old mare was back at it in Tuesday’s feature. With Alek Chartrand at the controls, Surreal Feeling powered out to the early lead in the $15,000 Open and never looked back. The Dale Lawton-trained distaffer went the distance to prevail in 1:54.3 to record her twelfth win of the season and her ninth in the local Open this season. Surreal Feeling, who hasn’t finished worse than second in the Open since mid-summer, held off a late bid from pocket-sitting Birch Island Betty (Billy Dobson) who wound up finishing second. It was the fifth consecutive week in which that she hit the board in the local Open. Miss Irish Rose A earned the show spot in the feature. Surreal Feeling, who paid $3.20 to win, led an exacta and triple that came back $13 and $56.50, respectively. The winner is owned by her trainer Dale Lawton as well as Chris Lawton. She is the clear favorite to be named Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year at the Spa as the awards will be given out this year after there was no ceremony last season.

Live racing resumes on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post time of noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser

Big Box Hanover (Uncle Peter) made his local debut a winning one on Monday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Larry Stalbaum took over the training duties of the four year old trotter this week and powered him out in the early going in Monday’s $15,000 feature. Big Box Hanover worked hard posting a 27.1 first quarter before getting a half in 57 seconds. The race’s favorite Squee Hanover (Billy Dobson) got away last and ran into some traffic trouble while pursuing Big Box Hanover who had plenty left late in the mile to win in 1:56. Squee Hanover was the runner-up in the Open Trot for the second consecutive week while Gigfy (Alek Chartrand) finished third. The exacta and triple with the 2-1 second choice winning the race paid $10.80 and $67.50, respectively. The win for Big Box Hanover, who is owned by Bruce Soulsby and Dalton Walls of Ohio, was his eighth of the year for a trotter who has earned six figures in all three of his career racing seasons. Stalbaum maintains a slight lead over Melissa Beckwith in the battle to be leading trainer for the 2021 campaign at the Spa.

The Pick Five was not hit for the second consecutive day on Monday and leaves a carryover of $13,412 for Tuesday’s installment of the Pick Five which starts in the matinee’s first race at noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser

The recent hot streak for reinsman Leon Bailey continued on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel as the Vernon Downs leading driver scored his first ever victory in a local Open. Bailey picked up the catch-drive behind the John Podres-trained Repeal Or Replace (So Surreal) who drew post two in the $15,000 Open Pace. Dismissed at odds of 15-1, Repeal Or Replace sat third in the early going as fast fractions of 27.1 and 56.1 were posted in lap one. Bailey made his move with the four year old pacer approaching the three quarter pole and Repeal Or Replace powered past the leader before opening up a big lead of his own turning for home. By the time the favorite Artful Way (Billy Dobson) could shake loose and shift gears, it would be too late for the veteran pacer to track down Repeal Or Replace whose first Open Pace score came in 1:53.2. Artful Way came up second-best while Lake Charles (Chris Long) earned the show spot. Repeal Or Replace paid $32.20 to win in the upset score and led an exacta and triple in the feature that returned $138 and $467.50, respectively. For Bailey, the win was his first ever in a local Open and one of two on the day for the 35 year old reinsman who has been on a tear of late at the Spa. Repeal Or Replace is owned by Karma Racing Inc. of Parkland, FL.

Live racing continues on Monday afternoon with a Pick Five carryover of $2,661. The Pick Five begins in the first race which is scheduled for noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser

Surreal Feeling (So Surreal) has had an incredible 2021 campaign and on Tuesday afternoon, the six year old mare recorded her eighth Open win of the season at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Dale Lawton-trained distaffer returned to the Spa in October and secured one win and three seconds in four tries in the $15,000 Fillies and Mares Open heading into Tuesday’s try. Alek Chartrand has been the regular driver for Surreal Feeling in her local starts and was at the helm behind the 2-5 betting favorite in the feature. After a fast first quarter paced in 27.1, the race’s leader backed down the half to the tune of 57.4. Surreal Feeling picked up cover and charged up second-over before tipping off the cover past the three quarter pole. As the favorite shifted gears, Chasethecloudsaway (Luke Hanners), the winner of the last two installments of the Fillies and Mares Open at the Spa, motored home around the final turn. Surreal Feeling would not be denied though and stopped the timer in 1:55 for her eleventh win of the season and eighth in the local feature. Chasethecloudsaway continued her streak of finishing first or second every week dating back to August when she ended up as the runner-up to Surreal Feeling while Birch Island Betty (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot for the third consecutive week in the Open. The exacta with the favorites running one-two paid $9.40 while the triple came back $56. Surreal Feeling, who is the clear favorite for Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year at Saratoga, is owned by Chris and Dale Lawton.

Live racing resumes on Sunday afternoon with a matinee starting at noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser

Madhatter Bluechip (Muscle Hill) is in the midst of a big time comeback campaign after missing all of the 2020 season. The Tom Milici-trained trotter posted an Open win at Yonkers in September and returned to Saratoga Casino Hotel last week (November 1) off a three week layoff. Madhatter Bluechip finished second to Squee Hanover in that start. The nine year old got his chance at revenge on Monday afternoon at the Spa when he started from post four in a five-horse Open Trot which served as the feature on the card. Leading driver Jimmy Devaux wasted little time moving Madhatter Bluechip to the front-end where he put up fast fractions in lap one. Posting fractions of 27.2 and 57 seconds in the first half, Madhatter Bluechip faced very little pressure throughout the mile. The favored Squee Hanover (Billy Dobson) revved up the engine late in the mile before getting caught three-wide around the final turn. Madhatter Bluechip scampered away to win by a length and a half in a fast 1:54.4 as the race’s 7-5 second-choice in the wagering. Squee Hanover stayed hot and finished second while Cash Me Out (Phil Fluet) earned the show spot in the $15,000 feature for high-steppers. For Madhatter Bluechip, it was victory number eight on the season. The earnings from the win put the veteran over the $100,000 mark for the ’21 campaign and over the $400,000 plateau for his career. The exacta and triple in the Open paid $9.60 and $24.40, respectively. For the meet’s leading driver Jimmy Devaux, the victory in the feature was one of five on the day as he looks to cement his first ever Saratoga driving title.

Live racing continues on Tuesday afternoon with a matinee starting at noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser