Century Endeavor finished a strong second in the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel two weeks ago when he drew the rail for his try in the feature. On Saturday night, Sept. 9, the Melissa Beckwith trainee once again had the pole position in the Open and utilized it to his full advantage.
Brett Beckwith piloted Century Endeavor to a wire-to-wire victory for the eight-year-old Shadow Play gelding’s first win in the local Open.
After powering out to a first quarter in :26.3, the veteran pacer got a bit of a breather before reaching the half in :56.2. The 6-1 shot kept rolling along and never faced much of a challenge en route to his 1:52.4 score. Seventh Secret (Jimmy Devaux), a 34-1 longshot, sat the pocket to the winner and finished second while Hestherightstuff (Billy Dobson) toughed out a first-over journey to finish third in the $16,050 Open.
Century Endeavor, who is owned by Howard Jacobs of West Orange, New York, paid $15.60 to win in his first feature score and led an exacta and triple that returned $238.50 and $536, respectively.
For trainer Melissa Beckwith, who sits second in the local trainer standings at the Spa this season, the win by Century Endeavor was her stable’s first Open Pace victory of the year.
Live harness racing continues on Sunday with a matinee that begins at noon.
(Saratoga Casino Hotel)