Unique Beach (Somebeachsomewhere) continued his recent dominance at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Tuesday afternoon. The Melissa Beckwith-trained pacer completed a sweep of the J.P. Morel Memorial Pacing Series as Wally Hennessey guided him to another decisive victory. Unique Beach won for the fifth consecutive week at the Spa and did so at odds of 1-9 as he went coast-to-coast on Tuesday to become the winner of the 8^th annual J.P. Morel Memorial Pace. The four year old had his way on the engine before cruising to a three and a half length romp in a seasonal best clocking of 1:54. Leading trainer Gary Levine had the second and third-place finishers in the Final as his Furious Beach (Shawn Gray), who had a win and a second in the two legs of the Series heading into Tuesday, closed up the rail to finish second in the $32,200 Final. King Street (Billy Dobson), a leg two winner for Levine, earned the show spot. Unique Beach was as heavily backed as a horse can be paying $2.10 to win. The exacta with Furious Beach returned $9.60 while the triple came back $53.50. Unique Beach is owned by William Hartt of Carmel, ME. Hennessey piloted three winners on the Tuesday card as he continues to thrive in his two days per week driving at Saratoga.

Live racing continues on Wednesday at Saratoga Casino Hotel with first post time set for Noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino

Tuesday marked the start of the eighth annual J.P. Morel Memorial Pacing Series at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The $10,000 per division series, which went on hiatus in 2020, saw a dominant force emerge as Unique Beach (Somebeachsomewhere) scored decisively in Tuesday’s first leg. The four year old Melissa Beckwith trainee came into the series off back-to-back victories which came by a total of more than eighteen lengths. Wally Hennessey piloted Unique Beach on Tuesday and moved the 1-9 betting favorite out to the early lead. The rising star never faced an anxious moment before pacing away from his rivals to score by four lengths in 1:55.4. Longshot Hot Joe (Phil Fluet) closed to be second while Thor And Dr Jones (Greg Merton) held on to finish third. Unique Beach, who is owned by William Hartt of Carmel, ME, came into the series as the one to beat and came out of leg one as its dominant force.

The other division of the first leg of the J.P. Morel Memorial Pace went the way of Furious Beach (Somebeachsomewhere) who prevailed for leading trainer Gary Levine and reinsman Shawn Gray. Furious Beach lasted on the lead while hanging on to score in 1:59.2. 65-1 shot The Best Tyme Ever (Alek Chartrand) finished second while King Spencer (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot. The victory was one of four on the card for Gray and two for Levine. There is one more leg of the series set to be contested next Tuesday (May 18^th) leading up to the Final which will go for a purse of upwards of $30,000.

Live racing continues on Wednesday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post time set for Noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino