Burke trainee utilized his terrific early speed

TG's Divine Scene (Artistic Freedom) made his local harness racing debut a winning one on Saturday night in the $15,000 Open Pace at Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

The Ron Burke trainee utilized his terrific early speed to secure a pocket trip behind longshot Titus Seelster (Frank Coppola Jr) who overcame post position eight within the first few strides of the 1 1/16 mile feature.

Driver Larry Stalbaum popped the pocket with TG's Divine Scene after sitting through three quarters of 1:22.4 and cruised past the leader to take over and draw away turning for home.

The race's favorite Fan Of Terror (Stephane Bouchard) was bottled up throughout the race but found late space to pace up the lane before coming up just shy of the 7-1 shot TG's Divine Scene who returned $17.00 to win.

The exacta with Fan Of Terror second came back $77.50 while the triple with longshot Titus Seelster third paid $1343.

The win, which came in 1:58 for the 1 1/16 after a mile in 1:50.3, was one of three on the night for Larry Stalbaum who has been regularly competing at the Spa since the start of the season last week.

Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon with a matinee that begins at 12:15pm.

Mike Sardella