Slugfest (Conway Hall) recorded his sixth Open Trot victory of the harness racing season on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga Casino and Raceway.
For the second time this year, the Open Trot was contested at a distance of 1 1/16 miles.
Last time Slugfest competed at the elongated distance, he suffered his lone loss in the month of May when he had to settle for second after being overpowered by rival Red Hot Herbie.
Those two squared off in the stretch in Sunday's $18,000 feature and were joined by longshot On The Podium (Bruce Aldrich Jr) and were all separated by less than a length at the wire.
Slugfest, the race's 3-5 favorite rallied late to record the win in 2:02.4 for the 1 1/16 with regular reinsman Jay Randall in the sulky.
On The Podium was the runner up while Red Hot Herbie (Billy Dobson) had to settle for third.
For the Maureen Salino-trained Slugfest, it was the sixth feature score of the season and extended his streak of finishing first or second to eight consecutive starts.
Live racing resumes at Saratoga on Thursday when New York Sire Stakes make their seasonal debut at the spa. First post time is set for 4:00pm.
Mike Sardella