Charlies Huffman Pace Final to Way Too Sweet

Way Too Sweet (Rockin Image) won the Bunny Lake Pacing Series at Saratoga Casino Hotel last spring. The Andy Gardner-trained mare wound up taking home the Three-Year-Old Pacer of the Year Award in 2022 due in large part to her harness racing series win. The ’23 campaign didn’t begin really strong for the now four-year-old distaffer who only owned one win this season heading into November. Way Too Sweet started to find the winning way again prevailing in back-to-back races leading up to the Charlie Hoffman Pace which began on November 25^th.

Way Too Sweet rattled off another pair of victories in the two legs of the series which each went for a purse of $10,000. Leading driver Jimmy Devaux has gotten along well with the Gardner trainee and wasted little time moving her to the lead in Saturday’s $22,800 Charlie Hoffman Pace Final.

The 1-2 favorite carved up first-half fractions of :28 and :58.1 and never faced a legitimate challenge until the stretch when pocket-sitter Yachtsman tried to pass up the inside. Way Too Sweet proved to be way too tough for the competition as the race’s lone lady beat the boys stopping the timer in 1:55 for her sixth win of the year and the fifth in her last six starts. Yachtsman (Jay Randall) finished second to complete a $7.90 exacta while two-leg series winner Rock This Way (Brett Beckwith) earned the show spot to round out a $34.60 triple.

Devaux, who is putting the finishing touches on his third straight driving title, won the Charlie Hoffman Pace for the second consecutive December. Way Too Sweet is owned by George Tackley of Syracuse and Wendy Storrier of Homer, NY.

WAY TOO SWEET REPLAY

Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon when the Bullet Bob Meyer Trotting Series Final reaches its conclusion with a $21,400 Final in the matinee’s fourth race. First post time is set for noon.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway