by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway

Saratoga, NY — Milky Way Rae (American Ideal) went coast-to-coast in the Friday (May 12) feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Heidi Rohr-trained mare was dropping out of the Filly and Mare Open in which she finished third last week and was the 2-5 betting favorite in Friday’s $9,500 feature for distaffers.

Melissa Simser-Iovino photo

Milky Way Rae leads from start to finish to record her second win of the season at Saratoga on Friday evening.

Milky Way Rae moved out to the early lead in a fast :27 second opening quarter and the 4-year-old mare never looked back. With Billy Dobson in the sulky, Milky Way Rae stopped the timer in a seasonal best 1:53.3, the fastest of her two seasonal scores.

A winner in the Open back in March, Milky Way Rae has consistently hit the board this year against the track’s top mares.

Bettorhaveanother (Frank Coppola Jr.) sat the pocket to the winner on Friday and finished second while longshot Weekend Getaway (Jimmy Devaux) closed to be third.

The win was one of two on the card for Rohr and Dobson who also secured a victory with heavily favored Keene Olivia (Always A Virgin) earlier in the night.

Live racing continues on Saturday evening at the Spa with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m.