Moonshine Kisses and Billy Dobson crossed under the wire in 1:51.4 in Sunday afternoon’s open pace. Moonshine Kisses is trained by Jackie Greene.

Melissa Simser-Iovino

Winning the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel is nothing new for the Kellogg Racing Stables and their trainer Jackie Greene. Led by track superstar Artful Way and pacer Hudson Phil, no one has won more Opens at the Spa over the course of the last decade than Kellogg and Greene. On Sunday afternoon, they added another to their bulky total when Moonshine Kisses (Sunshine Beach) made his return to the Spa a winning one. The five year old pacer had a pair of runner-up tries in the pacing feature this spring but took three months off to heal from an injury suffered in May. Reinsman Billy Dobson sat behind Moonshine Kisses in each of his three qualifiers that were used as preps for his return to Open company and off a resounding victory in 1:52.2 in his most recent qualifier was aggressive with the Greene trainee in the early going on Sunday. Moonshine Kisses captured an easy lead in the $15,000 feature before cruising through a first half in 56.3. Bet down as the race’s 2-1 second choice in the wagering, Moonshine Kisses never faced much of a challenge and in fact powered away from the competition around the final turn. The Greene trainee stopped the timer in 1:52.1 in what was the fastest of his four wins on the season and his first Open score in ’21. Last week’s Open winner Quagmire Bluechip (Brett Beckwith) closed to finish second to extend his streak of hitting the board in the feature to eight straight while Matticulous GB (Larry Stalbaum) earned the show spot. Moonshine Kisses, who wound up prevailing by better than three lengths, paid $6.00 to win and led an exacta and triple in the six-horse Open that paid $31.20 and $54.50, respectively.

Live racing continues on Monday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post time set for noon. The Pick Five will have a carryover of better than $2,000 on Monday and begins in the first race on the matinee card.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

Quagmire Bluechip, trained by Janice Connor won today’s open pace in 1:52.1 with Brett Beckwith in the bike.

Simple Kinda Man and driver Jim Devaux won the first Sunday feature of the year in 1:51. Simple Kinda Man is trained by Brett Derue.

Melissa Simser

Winning the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel this year is nothing new to the Scheigert Racing Stable, trainer Amanda Kelley and driver Greg Merton. That tandem has teamed up to win the featured race for pacers four times this year with their Some Waratah A. In recent weeks, it’s been a different member of the Kelley stable who has been competing in the $15,000 Saturday night feature. Lake Charles (Well Said) finished third last weekend and on Saturday night, the four year old drew the rail for his most recent try in the Open Pace. Merton was aggressive with Lake Charles and cut the mile with the 8-1 shot in the betting. After moving through a quick first quarter of 27.2, Lake Charles got a breather before reaching the half in 57 seconds. The favorite charged up first-over but was rebuffed by the gutsy Lake Charles who held off a late charge in the stretch from last week’s Open winner Quagmire Bluechip (Brett Beckwith) as well as Sports Obsession (Shawn Gray) to secure his first ever victory in the local Open. The win, which came in 1:52.4, was the third of the season for the Kelley trainee. Quagmire Bluechip finished second to extend his “on the board” streak in the Open to five straight while Sports Obsession earned the show spot. Lake Charles paid $18.20 to win in the upset and led an exacta and triple in the six-horse feature that returned $189 and $589, respectively. The win was one of three for Amanda Kelley and Greg Merton who also scored victories with their Our Corelli N (Bettor’s Delight) and Fox Valley Inferno (Sportsmaster) who each went wire-to-wire in conditional paces on Saturday.

Live racing will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon next week with matinees beginning at noon. Sunday racing will start up next weekend (Sept 12) with action also kicking off at noon. In his final start of August, Talking Tom broke his maiden with Jimmy Devaux in the sulky, a win that would break the seal for the improved pacer. He went on to rattle off three consecutive

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

Young reinsman Brett Beckwith has enjoyed a solid freshman season in the sulky at Saratoga Casino Hotel this year and on Saturday night, the 18 year old drove his first winner in a local Open. Beckwith has been the regular pilot for Quagmire Bluechip (Art Major) throughout the summer and the five year old has enjoyed some success in the Open Pace at the Spa. Coming into Saturday’s try in the $16,000 Open, Quagmire Bluechip had a two second-place finishes and a pair of thirds in his last six starts. Almost every week, he has been a longshot in the feature. In Saturday’s nine-horse Open, Quagmire Bluechip did what he always does and took back in the early going. The favorite was on the front-end and faltered opening the door for a host of closers to have a shot in the stretch. When the dust settled, it was Quagmire Bluechip who reigned supreme stopping the timer in a lifetime-best 1:53 to give Beckwith his first career victory in a local Open. Dismissed at odds of 14-1, Quagmire Bluechip paid $30 to win and led an exacta with fellow longshot Machiatto A (Jay Randall) that came back $228.50. The triple was completed by Lake Charles (Greg Merton) and returned a hefty $2,538 in a race which was a longshot bettor’s delight. Quagmire Bluechip, whose win was his fifth of the year, is owned by the Abbott and Costello Stable of Clinton, NY and trained by Janice Connor.

The co-featured Fillies and Mares Open went the way of Robyn Camden (Art Professor). The Rob Harmon-trained distaffer has always thrived when she’s come to town, winning at a high percentage whenever she ships into the Spa to compete in the Open over the course of the last few years. On Saturday, she left a bit in the six-horse Open for the ladies and got away fourth before following the live cover of Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum) past the half. After Miss Irish Rose A cleared the lead, Robyn Camden set her sights on the new leader and gunned her down in the stretch to record the victory in 1:53.4. It was win number six on the season for Robyn Camden who is owned by Jason Osullivan of Dublin, Ireland. Robyn Camden was driven to victory by Jay Randall who came up just shy of sweeping the double feature after finishing second in the “boys” Open with Machiatto A.

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

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

Crockets Cullen N (Christian Cullen) added another win to his lengthy tally of Open Pace victories in his career at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night as the veteran pacer went coast-to-coast. The ten year old veteran made it look easy as he cruised out to the early lead with his owner/trainer/driver Larry Stalbaum guiding the way. Crockets Cullen N was the even-money betting favorite on Saturday as he traveled unopposed for the majority of the mile, clicking off a first half in 56.4 before powering away from his rivals to win in 1:52. The horse who owns the fastest time of the season at Saratoga from a 1:50.3 score back in July, Crockets Cullen N recorded his decisive victory by three and a half lengths. His win was the second in the Open in 2021 but adds to his total as the winningest Open Pacer at the Spa over the course of the last three seasons. Michaels Boy (Brian Cross), the longest shot on the board, was the runner-up to Crockets Cullen N in the feature while Quagmire Bluechip (Brett Beckwith) earned the show spot. The Stalbaum stable star paid $4.10 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $45.60 and $222, respectively.

Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon with a matinee starting at Noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

No horse has won the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel more than Crockets Cullen N has since 2019. Larry Stalbaum owns, trains and drives the veteran pacer who loves to win and recorded victories in the local pacing feature fifteen times between the 2019 and 2020 campaigns. This year, though the now ten year old came into Saturday night’s try with four wins on the season, he had yet to prevail in the Open Pace in ’21. That changed on Saturday for Crockets Cullen N as he got a ground-saving journey in the $14,000 feature before finding open road in the stretch and flying home. Crockets Cullen N got away third in the six-horse Open and stuck to the inside path as the leader Some Waratah A (Greg Merton), a four-time winner of the local Open Pace this season, set the fractions in the feature. Hudson Phil (Billy Dobson) sat the pocket to Some Waratah N and powered past that one late in the mile. All the while, the rail opened up for Crockets Cullen N who surged in the stretch before reeling in his rivals to record the first win of the season in the local Open for a horse who has made a home in the Saratoga winner’s circle over the last couple of years. On Saturday, the classy veteran stopped the timer in 1:53, paying $11.40 to win in the mild upset. Hudson Phil was the runner-up to complete a $34.60 exacta while Some Waratah A finished third to round out a $149 triple. Stalbaum went back-to-back on Saturday as his American Zest A cruised to a decisive victory in 1:53.1 in a $10,500 conditional race for pacers.

Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon with a first post set for noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

We had racing under the lights at Saratoga Casino Hotel for the first time in nearly a year and a half on Saturday night and the light aspect almost didn’t happen. Some power outages in the area resulted in the track lights not functioning early in the card but the problem was rectified midway through the eleven race program. The feature for the night was the $14,000 Open Pace which consisted of six top-flight competitors and went the way of a horse who was competing at the Spa for the first time this season. The Patti Harmon-trained Kerford Road A (Somebeachsomewhere) was the public’s 6-5 betting favorite after coming in off a strong stint at both Tioga Downs and Yonkers Raceway. Shawn Gray moved Kerford Road A out to the lead in the early going and the seven year old enjoyed soft fractions of 28 and 57 seconds in lap one. After cruising through the leisurely first-half fractions, the race seemed like it was over. And it was. Kerford Road A went coast-to-coast in 1:52.3 highlighted by a final half in 55.3 en route to his first victory in the local Open Pace. Wyatt J (Billy Dobson) sat the pocket to the winner and wound up finishing second while American Zest A (Larry Stalbaum) earned the show spot. For Kerford Road A, it was the fifth win of the season in a year in which he has hit the board in thirteen of his twenty starts. The Open Pace winner is owned by John Campagnuolo, the Harmon Racing Stable and Winners Circle Racing.

Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee beginning at Noon.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy

Simple Kinda Man (Sportswriter) has been a monster since coming to Saratoga Casino Hotel last month and on Monday, the Brett Derue trainee scored in his first attempt in the Open Pace. Simple Kinda Man won his local debut in June when he circled the field behind a three-wide move to prevail in 1:53.4. After finishing second the following week, the six year old pacer moved up into the $12,850 Winners Over for pacers last Monday (July 5^th) and dazzled when he went wire-to-wire in 1:50.4, a clocking that at the time was the fastest of the meet at Saratoga. On Monday afternoon, Simple Kinda Man took yet another jump up in company and drew post seven in the seven-horse Open Pace which went for a purse of $14,000. Driver Jimmy Devaux was forced to take back early with Simple Kinda Man who sat last as first half fractions of 26.1 and 54 seconds popped up on the timer. With the favorite Crockets Cullen N (Larry Stalbaum) softened by those fractions on the front end, the backfield was set in motion in the race’s final lap and invader Chatelroll (Wally Hennessey) rolled past the leader to take over. Simple Kinda Man, who was still in sixth at the three quarter pole, came motoring home and flew past his rivals to record his first Open Pace victory stopping the timer in 1:51.3. He paid $19.80 to win and led an exacta with Chatelroll second that came back $85.50. The triple with longshot Quagmire Bluechip (Brett Beckwith) third returned a hefty $1,107. The winner, who overcame nearly a twelve-length deficit at the quarter pole, is owned by Steve Picarazzi, Scott Petillo and trainer Brett Derue all of New York who also had a Monday score with their Nothing To Prove who scored a hat trick with reinsman Wally Hennessey at the controls. It was back-to-back wins in the Open Pace for Devaux on Monday who piloted Sports Obsession to victory in last week’s feature for pacers.

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

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino