Spa spring claiming series for trotters

There were two divisions of the Spa Spring Claiming Series for trotters on Friday night at Saratoga Casino and Raceway. Harness racing $5,000 claimers battled for purses of $7,500 per division and both races resulted in mild upsets.

Haymaker (Billy Dobson) sprung the two hole heading towards the three quarter pole and surged away from his rivals to win in 1:58.3.

The Tim Benson-trained daughter of Andover Hall recorded his first victory of the season and did so at odds of 6-1.

The other division was won by Jordan Derue's Net Revenue (Revenue S). Derue owns, trains and drives the mare who aggressively moved to the lead and would not surrender.

Net Revenue's first score of 2015 came in 1:59.1 as she was dismissed at odds of 5-1.

Leg two of the trotting series will take place next Friday before the final in two weeks, a race to be contested at a distance of one mile and a quarter.

Live racing continues on Saturday night at Saratoga with a first post time of 6:45pm.

Mike Sardella