Saratoga Springs, NY — The start to the season hasn’t been perfect for Scott Mongeon trainee Perfect Vixen, but it’s been close. The 3-year-old Muscles Yankee came into the John Mongeon Sr. Memorial Trotting Series as the one to beat after winning four races in five starts in the 2022 campaign, and she will head to next week’s final off a 1:56.3 win in Sunday’s (May 1) third-round action at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

Perfect Vixen proved much the best in her third-round division of the John Mongeon Sr. Memorial at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Melissa Simser photo.

The clear favorite in the ninth annual installment of the Mongeon Memorial Series, Perfect Vixen set a lifetime mark in leg one scoring in 1:56.2 with John Stark Jr. in the sulky. After drawing post eight, the filly had to settle for a third-place finish in leg two while squaring off against a strong group of competitors. On Sunday, Stark wasted very little time moving the race’s 1-5 betting favorite out to the lead, where she never encountered an anxious moment before drawing away by 3-1/4 lengths. Titan On the Rail (Mickey McGivern) closed well to be second, and Gavinator (Brett Crawford) earned the show spot.

In the other $10,000 division of the series’ third leg, Charlatan Hanover (Uncle Peter) powered out to the early lead, and the second-leg runner-up rolled to victory from there. Wally Hennessey, who won four races on the afternoon, piloted Charlatan Hanover to a front-trotting 1:58 win for trainer Gary Levine.

Live racing at Saratoga continues on Monday afternoon (May 2) and will feature a $6,358 jackpot in the Pick-6 (races 8-13). First post time is set for 12 noon.