Arizona edges out rival to capture seventh Local Open

Arizona won the Fillies and Mares Open for the seventh time of the season at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Tuesday. The Melissa Beckwith trainee has been the consistent force in the ladies’ Open for the last couple of years and continued her dominance of local distaffers in the $18,500 Tuesday feature.

Arizona flashed early speed in the Open and after setting sail for the front-end in the early going cruised through a first lap in 57 seconds with Hall of Fame reinsman Wally Hennessey at the controls.

The 6-5 betting favorite’s first challenge came from invader Easy To Please (Cory Stratton) who chipped away at the Arizona lead before drawing on even terms with her in the stretch. Arizona dug in and got the better of Easy To Please in the final strides to hold on and score in 1:53.3 to win by a nose.

Easy To Please was a strong second in her local debut while Alittlesidehustl N (Billy Dobson) closed to finish third.

ARIZONA REPLAY

 

Arizona’s victory was her eighth of the year and seventh in the local Fillies and Mares Open.

With the earnings from her Tuesday score, the six year old moved over the $300,000 mark in career bankroll. Arizona, last year’s Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year at Saratoga, is owned by Wendy Timpano.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening with a 6:45pm first post.

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

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway