The Royal Poze (RC Royalty) has put together a strong stretch over the last couple months in the winners of two but not more than five class for New York sired trotters at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Andy Sardella trainee had a solid season in 2018 as a three year old but has really put it all together of late. On Wednesday night, The Royal Poze drew the rail in the $9,000 featured race for trotters and driver Frank Coppola Jr. was aggressive with him from the get-go. The race’s 9-5 second-choice in the wagering, The Royal Poze breezed past the favored Pappagiorgio (Jimmy Devaux) heading to the quarter en route to the front-end. First over longshot Squirely Girly (Jordan Derue) rushed up to approach the leader heading to three quarters but The Royal Poze was up to the task, holding off the two-pronged challenge from Squirely Girly and Pappgiorgio in the stretch before stopping the timer in 1:58.1. Squirely Girly finished second while Pappagiorgio settled for third. The victory was the fifth in ten starts in the ’19 campaign for The Royal Poze who paid $5.60 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $78 and $270, respectively.
Live racing resumes on Friday evening at Saratoga with a 7:05pm first post.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
