NZ bred takes first Open Pace at Saratoga

Havefaithinme N (Bettor's Delight) scored in the first Open Pace of the year at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

The Jose Godinez trainee brought his over $1 million in harness racing career earnings into the Monday afternoon feature which was contested for a purse of $12,000.

The fractions in the race were slow over a track labeled 'good' and Havefaithinme N had his work cut out for him to come from off the pace. The millionaire eight year old toughed it out, though, and wore the leader Khun Ratha A (Larry Stalbaum) down before stopping the timer in 1:56.2 en route to his second win in as many starts in 2019.

Khun Ratha A was a strong second while Maxdaddy Blue Chip (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot.

Havefaithinme N completed a Monday hat trick for driver Bruce Aldrich Jr who got his season off to a strong start behind the three-win afternoon. The race's favorite at odds of 2-1, Havefaithinme N paid $6.20 to win and led an exacta and triple that came back $22.60 and $96, respectively.

Live racing resumes on Wednesday afternoon for the first of what will be regular Wednesday matinees on the schedule this year at Saratoga.

There is a Pick Five guarantee of $5,000 on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout February and March. The Pick Five now begins in race one on the card. Also, race 5 will feature a $25,000 guaranteed trifecta pool on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

First post time for the matinee cards is set for 12:00pm.

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway