Second Leg of the O’Brien Memorial Series

There were two divisions of the second leg of the Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pacing Series contested on Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga Casino Hotel and both legs saw their winners put in career-best efforts. Red Dirt Hot Shot (Pang Shui) lowered her lifetime mark by three seconds while pulling off a mild upset in her $15,000 division of the series for fillies and mares. Leading driver Jimmy Devaux powered Red Dirt Hot Shot up to the outside of her race’s heavy favorite Dance Ticket (Chris Long).

Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pacing Series leg one winner Dance Ticket fought gamely but was passed in the final strides by Red Dirt Hot Shot who stopped the timer in 1:54.3. Red Dirt Hot Shot, a leg one runner-up, paid $8 to win in the second leg while punching her ticket to the series final. The four year old mare is owned by Picarazzi, Bullard and her trainer Brett Derue.

Stay Jelly (Stay Hungry) went coast-to-coast in the other division of leg two on Tuesday. Brett Beckwith catch-drove the three year old filly for trainer Michelle Crawford and took advantage of the inside post position to cut the mile. The sophomore filly, who was a second-place finisher in the series’ first leg, wired the field in a lifetime best 1:57 on Tuesday beating rivals Vibrance (Steve Rybka) and Celia B Money (Wally Hennessey) who finished second and third, respectively. Stay Jelly is owned by Dragon Tales Farm of Burnt Hills, NY. Beckwith piloted three winners on the Tuesday card.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a first post time of 5pm.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Jessica Hallett

Saratoga Casino HotelSaratoga Springs, New York

Racey Rach N Scores In Saratoga Feature

It was a big day for driver Chris Long on Tuesday at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The veteran reinsman recorded three wins on the afternoon including a pair which came in the matinee’s biggest races. Racey Rach N (A Rocknroll Dance) scored in the Open for the first time at the Spa when she went coast-to-coast in Tuesday’s feature. Racey Rach N won an amazing eleven consecutive races upon coming to Saratoga before finishing second in her final two starts in the 2022 season. Following a three month layoff, the six year old returned to the track in February and quickly graduated up into Open company. Racey Rach N earned a couple of second-place finishes among her tries in the Fillies and Mares Open before drawing post five for her start in Tuesday’s $17,000 Open. Long powered the Lisa Zabielski-trained distaffer out to the front-end and despite being used hard in a first half that went in 55.4, the New Zealand invader had enough left to win it by a length in 1:55.1. Racey Rach N paid $5.80 to win as the race’s 9-5 betting favorite. Fond Memories A (Larry Stalbaum) sat the pocket and finished second in the feature while last week’s Open winner Always Watching (Jordan Derue) earned the show spot.

Long also recorded a victory in one of the two $12,500 divisions of leg one of the Virginia O’Brien Memorial Pacing Series when Dance Ticket went wire-to-wire. The four year old scored a decisive victory in 1:55 to register her third win in five seasonal tries for owner/trainer Robyn Mangiardi. Long completed his Tuesday hat trick when he piloted another Mangiardi trainee Deedee Didit (McArdle) to an upset score in a $9,500 conditional race.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening with a 5pm first post.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Jessica Hallett

Saratoga Casino Hotel | Saratoga Springs, New York

American Tour N Wins Series Final

American Tour N (American Ideal) won the Step Up To The Plate Claiming Series for fillies and mares when on Tuesday she was a decisive wire-to-wire winner in the $32,200 Final. Jimmy Devaux piloted the Brett Derue-trained mare who scored victories in legs two and three of the series before being the 1-5 betting favorite in Tuesday’s Final.

Lookintomyeyes (Leon Bailey) sat the pocket to American Tour N for the second consecutive week and finished second in the Final while leg three winner Nora Tova (Phil Fluet) earned the show spot. American Tour N, who is owned in partnership by Steve Picarazzi and her trainer Brett Derue, led a $5 exacta and $23.80 triple. Derue won the Step Up To The Plate Trotting Series last week when his Mr Cool Seaeyre N went coast-to-coast in the Final.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga and will feature a carryover of $10,269 in the early Pick Five. The Pick Five starts in the first race which is set to take place at 5pm.

Mike Sardella

Photo: Jessica Hallett

Saratoga Casino Hotel | Saratoga Springs, New York

Chasethecloudsaway & Luke Hanners

Chasethecloudsaway (Sunshine Beach) was a winning machine in 2021 scoring an impressive sixteen times over the course of the year. While most of the Chris Petrelli-trained mare’s victories took place at Monticello, the then four year old did thrive at Saratoga Casino Hotel as well. A four-time winner of the local Fillies and Mares Open in ‘21, Chasethecloudsaway made her seasonal debut on Tuesday afternoon with just one winning qualifier under her belt. Luke Hanners was the regular driver for the talented distaffer late last year and sat behind her for Tuesday’s try in the $15,000 feature. Hanners flashed some early speed with the race’s 8-5 betting favorite but had to settle for fourth in the early going as Somebeachsomefra (Jimmy Devaux) set honest fractions on the front end. Chasethecloudsaway made her move just past the half and marched up first-over before grinding the leader into submission in the stretch and prevailing by three quarters of a length in a mile clocked in 1:56.1. Somebeachsomefra finished second while Miss Irish Rose A (Larry Stalbaum), the runner-up in last week’s ladies’ Open, had to settle for third on Tuesday. Chasethecloudsaway paid $5.50 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $19.60 and $83.50, respectively. The trip to the winner’s circle in the feature was one of three consecutive on the card for young reinsman Luke Hanners who scored a natural hat trick on the matinee card.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening with a 13 race card set to begin at 5:00pm.

 

Mike Sardella

Photo: Melissa Simser