Saratoga Springs, NY — Winning the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel this year is nothing new to the Scheigert Racing Stable, trainer Amanda Kelley and driver Greg Merton. They have teamed up to win the featured race for pacers four times this year with Some Waratah A, but in recent weeks, it’s been a different member of the Kelley stable who has competed in the Saturday night feature.

Lake Charles (Well Said) finished third last weekend, and on Saturday night (Sept. 4), the 4-year-old drew the rail for his most recent try in the $15,000 Open Pace. Merton was aggressive with Lake Charles and cut the mile with the 8-1 shot. After moving through a quick first quarter of :27.2, Lake Charles got a breather before reaching the half in :57. The favorite charged up first-over, but was rebuffed by the gutsy Lake Charles, who held off a late charge in the stretch from last week’s Open winner Quagmire Bluechip (Brett Beckwith) as well as Sports Obsession (Shawn Gray) to secure his first ever victory in the local Open. The win, which came in 1:52.4, was the third of the season for the Kelley trainee.

Quagmire Bluechip finished second to extend his “on the board” streak in the Open to five straight while Sports Obsession earned the show spot.

Lake Charles paid $18.20 to win in the upset and led an exacta and triple in the six-horse feature that returned $189 and $589, respectively. The win was one of three for Amanda Kelley and Greg Merton, who also scored victories with their Our Corelli N (Bettor’s Delight) and Fox Valley Inferno (Sportsmaster), who each went wire-to-wire in conditioned paces on Saturday.

Live racing will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 7-8) next week, beginning at noon. Sunday racing will start up next weekend (Sept. 12) with action also kicking off at noon.