Rene Allard trainee goes coast to coast

Settlemoir (Western Ideal) went coast to coast in the Saturday harness racing feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

In his local debut last week, the Rene Allard-trained Settlemoir finished second in the $12,500 Winners Over and subsequently was the 8-5 betting favorite this week as he looked to wire the feature field.

Wally Hennessey sat behind the four year old pacer as he clicked off a first quarter of 27 seconds flat.

Following an effective breather in quarter two that led to a half in 56.3, Settlemoir wound up having just enough left to hold off the late bid by pocket-sitter Panocchio (Gerry Mattison) who had to settle for second.

Bet You (Stephane Bouchard) earned the show spot.

Settlemoir, who stopped the timer in 1:52.4 for his fourth win of the season, prevailed in just his second start following the claim by Allard at Yonkers in May.

Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon with a matinee first post set for 12:15pm.

Mike Sardella