There were two divisions of the Step Up To The Plate Claiming Series for trotters that served as co-features on the Monday afternoon (March 20) card at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The winners of the two divisions from last week’s first leg squared off with each other as Esa and The Royal Poze slugged it out for their share of the $22,500 leg two purse.
Esa, who was claimed out of leg one, went coast-to-coast to score in that start, but on Monday, wound up having to move first-over on his race’s favourite JNR Express. Driven by Luke Hanners for trainer Kelly Lancaster-Dailey and co-owner Ryan Dailey, Esa fought gamely before wearing down the favourite to score in 1:56.1. It was the fourth victory of the season from 10 starts for the seven-year-old son of E L Titan-Christiana Hanover, who was again claimed on Monday and will head into leg three of the series under the guidance of yet another set of new connections. JNR Express (Jay Randall) was the runner-up for the third consecutive week while leg one winner The Royal Poze (Jimmy Devaux) came on to finish third. All three of the top finishers from this division were claimed on Monday.
The other division of the second leg of the series went the way of Life Well Lived. Claimed out of leg one, the new Kevin McDermott trainee Life Well Lived drew the rail and controlled the action from start to finish to pay immediate dividends for his new owner Reid Wissner. Shawn Gray sat behind the nine-year-old Muscle Mass-Life Class gelding, who proved to be a decisive winner in 1:57.2 as his race’s odds-on favourite. Mr Cool Seaeyre N (Brett Beckwith) made a break in the early going and still toughed it out to finish second while First Gunner (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot.
Leg three of the Step Up To The Plate Claiming Series for trotters will take place next on Monday, March 27 with the final scheduled for the following week.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)