89-1 longshot closes from last to first in Open

Seventh Secret (AllAmerican Native) made his Open debut at Saratoga Casino Hotel earlier in the month and the veteran hit the board in two of his three starts in the regular Saturday harness racing feature heading into this weekend’s action.

On Saturday, the Lisa Zabielski-trained twelve-year-old drew post eight for his try in the $15,000 Open Pace. Jimmy Devaux piloted Seventh Secret who was dismissed at eye-popping odds of 89-1 in what appeared on paper to be a wide-open feature.

The action was hotly contested from the start in the feature as Seventh Secret got away last and was close to a dozen lengths away behind the leader in the opening quarter. While the deficit began to close a bit for the Zabielski trainee in the race’s middle half when three-quarters came up in 1:24, Seventh Secret remained eighth and last at that point.

Closing on the far outside but still sixth at the top of the stretch, Seventh Secret hit his best strides and completed a swoop of the group by storming home in the race’s fastest final quarter before coming on to win in 1:53.

SEVENTH SECRET REPLAY

A win mutuel of $181.50 resulted in the major shocker that saw Im No Outlaw N (Jay Randall) finish second and Pickup Man Hanover (Luke Hanners) earn the show spot. A $2 exacta returned $2,398 while a 50 cent triple came back a hearty $5,512.50.

Seventh Secret, who is owned by Mark Salerno of Felton, DE, now owns 39 career victories and more than $627,000 in lifetime earnings. The win was one of four on the evening for leading driver Jimmy Devaux and one of a three for Zabielski who scored later in the night with her Datguyna Greensuit (Bettor’s Delight) and Juxlivin My Dream (Relentless Yankee) who each went wire-to-wire with Devaux in tow.

Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post time set for noon.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway