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 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

Monday marked the kickoff of the 8^th annual John Mongeon Sr. Memorial Trotting Series at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The series, which went on hiatus in 2020, is back this year and during Monday’s matinee, there were three divisions of the first leg, each of which went for a purse of $10,000. Coming into the day, the series’ clear one to beat was Dewey Arnold. The Dave Dewhurst-trained three year old was back in town following an overwhelmingly successful stint at Pocono Downs that saw the sophomore rattle off three straight victories including his most recent one which came in a career-best 1:53.2. Dewey Arnold (Deweycheatumnhowe) had one thing going against him coming into the series though. He made breaks in each of his two starts at the Spa this spring which potentially made him vulnerable in the series. The betting public wasn’t concerned about the breaks though and bet the talented trotter down to odds of 1-9 in the first division of the series contested on Monday. The bettors were proven correct as Jimmy Devaux guided Dewey Arnold to a decisive, wire-to-wire score in 1:57.2, a time that by far was the fastest among the leg one winners as he stamped himself as the big favorite in the series.

Notoutofthewoods (Prayer I Am) picked a good time to put in a lifetime-best effort on Monday as the Cheryl Whitcroft-trained trotter stopped the timer in 2:00.2 to record her biggest career victory in leg one of the Mongeon Memorial Trot. Driver Mark Whitcroft got a pocket trip with the four year old who moved off the rail around the final turn before coming on to prevail while at odds of 3-1. The final leg of the first division went the way of young filly Cindy Michelle (E L Titan). The John Stark Jr. trained and driven three year old won her fourth consecutive race on Monday and did it despite getting a tough first-over journey. Cindy Michelle stopped the timer in a career-best 1:59.3 in what was her fourth win in five lifetime starts. She was her race’s even-money favorite. There is one division of the series remaining which will take place next Monday afternoon (May 17^th) leading up to the Final which will go for a purse of more than $30,000.

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

Mike Sardella

Photo: Cheyanne Mandy