Lake Charles lets no one pass him by

Lake Charles (Well Said) won the Open Pace three times in 2021 at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Amanda Kelley

trainee took the harness racing feature in two of the final three installments of it last season.

Following a second-place finish in his ’22 debut last weekend, Lake Charles found himself in a four-horse $15,000 Open on Saturday night.

Leon Bailey sat behind the five-year-old who wound up powering past former Saratoga Pacer of the Year Crockets Cullen N (Larry Stalbaum) in the early going. He then sizzled through a first quarter of 26.4 before reaching the half in 56.4.

The favored Hudson Phil (Billy Dobson) won last week’s installment of the $15,000 Open Pace and revved up the engine late in the mile on Saturday but did just enough to come up second-best to Lake Charles who hit the line in 1:54.3.

Lake Charles, a winner by two and a quarter lengths, returned $7.50 to win and led an exacta with the favorite second that paid $11.60. Crockets Cullen N finished third.

The winner is owned by the Scheigert Racing Stable of Saratoga Springs.

Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon with a matinee starting at noon.

For full race results, click here.

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway