Abbeylara (Dragon Again) pulled off the mild harness racing upset in Saturday night's featured race at Saratoga Casino and Raceway.
The Jose Godinez – trained pacer was assigned the rail as he came to town from the claiming ranks at Yonkers.
Bruce Aldrich Jr piloted Abbeylara as, together, they blasted out to the early lead. Met with the challenge of fellow Yonkers invader and big time betting favorite Statesman N (Jim Morrill Jr) around the final turn, Abbeylara dug in his heels and turned back the 1-5 public choice after at one point getting passed by that rival in the stretch.
Abbeylara returned $12.40 to win while Statesman N had to settle for second.
Talking Blues (Billy Dobson) came on to finish third in the $17,500 featured race on the first Saturday night race card of the season at the Spa.
The win for Abbeylara was one of three on the card for trainer Jose Godinez and driver Bruce Aldrich Jr as they also teamed up for victories with pacers Grandpa Don and Upfront Country Boy.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee kicking off at 12:45pm.
Mike Sardella