Titus Seelster (Artistic Fella) went back to back in the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel as the Jackie Greene trainee went coast-to-coast for the second consecutive week. Despite being assigned the outside post in Saturday’s $14,500 Open, Titus Seelster blasted out to the early lead. After a first quarter in 27 seconds, driver Frank Coppola Jr gave the standout a second quarter breather of 29 seconds. From there, the six year old pacer went a back-half in 55.1 before stopping the timer in 1:51.1 en route to his sixth win of the year. The win time was the second fastest of the year at Saratoga, second only to Titus Seelster’s stablemate Artful Way who won the Open in 1:51 back in April. Don’tcallmefrancis (Bruce Aldrich Jr) sat the pocket to the winner and finished second while Bettor Rock On N (Stephane Bouchard) came on for third. Titus Seelster, who was the favorite in last week’s Open, returned $16.40 to win this week and led an exacta and triple that paid $89 and $404.50, respectively. Artful Way gave Greene a training double on Saturday as the standout pacer dropped down into the $12,500 Winners Over level to secure a victory of his own, a win that came in 1:51.4 with Coppola in the sulky.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee beginning at 12:15pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Melissa Simser-Iovino
