Grand upset from Sweet Royalty

Sweet Royalty delivered a shock to bettors as he charged to victory at the pylons in the Monticello Raceway harness racing Open Trot at the longest odds on the board.

Kyle Dibenedetto encouraged the gelding to lead going into the first turn, which Sweet Royalty did. Big Bad Swan (Michael Miller), who was parked out, trudged on to the top spot before finishing the first quarter mile in :28.4. The latter got little reprieve on the front end with the favoured Cinnamon Stick moving up on the outside to challenge as the field of six trotted to the half in :59.3.

Big Bad Swan upped the tempo to deal with that foe and hit three-quarters in 1:28.3 with Sweet Royalty bottled up in the pocket. The leader turned away Cinnamon Stick, but she yielded to the new danger of Sweet Royalty, who pounced up the passing lane and took the victory in 1:58.1.

Big Bad Swan held second to complete a $281.50 exactor. E R Shane (Braxten Boyd) was third at 10-1.

SWEET ROYALTY REPLAY

Sweet Royalty is an eight-year-old Rc Royalty gelding. He is now 30-for-149 lifetime, and he has earned more than $175,000. Steven Ray of South New Berlin trains and owns.

Longshots took the next two races at odds of 23-1 and 13-1.

Brandon Parker piloted four winners for a grand slam on the day. He scored in the fourth with Cheerio Hill (1:56), fifth with Starsky’s Dream N (1:57.2), seventh with Sunshine West (1:59.3), and eighth with Repeal Or Replace (1:54.1). Parker, a 22-year-old Monticello native, is now sixth in the drivers’ standings.

Michael Merton still leads among reinsmen with 129 wins.

Also on the card, 78-year-old Gerry Fielding drove Back On Board N to victory in the Catskill Amateur Drivers Series Pace. Fielding positioned the gelding in fourth, who then grinded to the front in the third quarter and thundered home to win in 1:58.1. It was the 65th career win for Fielding, who is the president of the Catskill Amateur Drivers Club, and his first since 2018. Back On Board N is an 11-year-old Christian Cullen gelding that is trained by Veronica Merton for Michael Elia. The horse has won 22 of his 182 races and has earned more than $155,000.

Monticello Raceway will host its next card on Thursday, Jul. 1. It will offer a seven-race selection on that day, beginning at 12:10 p.m. EDT.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink