Hennessey snags feature at The Spa

With no Open Pace on the harness racing docket, Carrythetorchman (American Ideal) prevailed in the featured $10,500 race at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night.

Wally Hennessey sat behind the Brett Derue-trained six-year-old who drew the rail in his return to town following a try at Tioga Downs last week. Carrythetorchman finished first or second in four of his five most recent local starts heading into Saturday’s try which saw him draw the rail and subsequently become the public’s 4-5 betting favorite.

Aided by his pole control, Hennessey put all of his rivals in line in the early going and wound up on the front-end in a first half in 57.4. The Derue trainee never suffered an anxious moment in going wire-to-wire in 1:53.1 for his sixth victory of the season. Hunky Hanover (Matt Athearn) closed late to finish second to the favorite while longshot Jay Bracken A (Brett Crawford) earned the show spot.

Carrythetorchman’s connections of Hennessey and Derue teamed up later in the card for another score with claiming pacer JK Lucky Charms who went coast-to-coast in 1:56 to move his record to four-for-four while under the guidance of his current connections.

CARRYTHETORCHMAN REPLAY

Wally piloted four winners on the night in total including guiding another Derue trainee Flag Party to a decisive 1:53.3 score. Flag Party, though, is trained by Brett’s brother Jordan Derue. Flag Party and Hennessey have teamed up for three consecutive scores as a team.

FLAG PARTY REPLAY

Live racing resumes on Thursday evening at Saratoga with a first post time of 5:00 pm.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway