Upset shocker in $250,000 Joe Gerrity Memorial

Idealsomemagic A (American Ideal) lived up to his name scoring a big upset in the $250,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial in harness racing action from Saratoga Saturday night (Jul. 22).

It didn’t look good for Idealsomemagic A as he was sitting fourth following dead cover at the 3/4 pole, 3 3/4 lengths in arrears to leader Tattoo Artist (Jason Bartlett), who appeared to be well on his way to a second straight Gerrity score. However, when he was sent wide and asked the question by driver George Brennan, Idealsomemagic A produced a huge late kick to get up to score a 27 to 1 upset by a neck, and he needed all of his new lifetime mark of 1:50 to get the job done.

The start of the race played out as expected, with 2 to 5 favorite Tattoo Artist rocketing straight to the front looking to defend his title. Hellabalou (Joe Bongiorno) accepted the pocket from his rail post and Funatthebeach N (Mark Macdonald) dropped in third from post two. Covered Bridge (Jordan Stratton) was next and Idealsomemagic A sat fifth through an opening quarter in 27.0.

Covered Bridge was the first to move and he made it up to third, three lengths behind the leader, as they raced past the half in a reasonable 55.3. Idealsomemagic A rode Covered Bridge’s helmet but Tattoo Artist looked to bottom out the field and he dropped the hammer with a 26.3 third quarter, speed that left Covered Bridge spinning his wheels first-over.

At that point, Brennan could wait no longer, and he sent Idealsomemagic A three-wide, but it appeared that Tattoo Artist might be gone. Once he was shown racetrack, though, Idealsomemagic A powered up with a 27.0 kicker, pulling a rabbit out of a hat to get his neck in front at the wire for the upset.

IDEALSOMEMAGIC A REPLAY

In winning for the twelfth time in 21 starts this year, Idealsomemagic A was also scoring the biggest payday of his career with the winner’s share of $125,000 for owners VIP Internet Stable of New Jersey and Stratton Stable Inc. of New York. He is trained by Corey Stratton and has now earned just over $463,000 lifetime. He paid a generous $56.00 to win.

Tattoo Artist made all the pace and stayed for second and Hellabalou, who rode the pocket throughout, finished third, beaten three-quarters of a length. Funatthebeach N was fourth and Covered Bridge took the final check finishing fifth.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Garnet Barnsdale, for Harnesslink