Probert dukes it out in Mares Open

The Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel has belonged to harness racing trainer Melissa Beckwith this season.

Putting the finishing touches on what will be her ninth local training title, Beckwith has had a couple of distaffs who have thrived in the ladies’ feature throughout the 2022 campaign. Sea Shadows owns a track-best seven Open wins this year, but it was a different Beckwith trainee who competed in Monday’s installment of the $16,000 feature.

Probert (Dali) has had a terrific ’22 season while racing both locally and at Plainridge Park in Massachusetts. Following a pair of Open scores and a third-place finish at Plainridge,

Probert was back in town on Monday and despite drawing post six in the six-horse feature, the Beckwith trainee was the public’s 3-5 betting favorite. Young reinsman Brett Beckwith found an early landing spot with Probert in a race in which Always Watching (Jordan Derue) was cutting the mile. Always Watching got to the half in :57 seconds but when Beckwith gave Probert her cue, the five-year-old surged to challenge the leader who would not relent.

Always Watching and Probert battled stride-for-stride with each other until hitting the stretch when the Beckwith trainee powered away to win in 1:53.3. It was the fourth Open score at the Spa for Probert who is owned by Howard Jacobs, Jim Winske and Marcus Kemblowski.

PROBERT REPLAY

The earnings for Probert push her seasonal total to over the $140,000 mark. Always Watching finished second on Monday to complete a $16.40 exacta while So Amazing (Jimmy Devaux) completed a $48.80 triple.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a 5pm first post. There will be a Pick Five carryover of $2,444 with the Pick Five beginning in the first race.

For complete race results, click here.

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway