Saratoga Springs, NY – Ammo (Sweet Lou) made his Open Pace debut a winning one at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 7).
The 6-year-old made his first Saratoga start out of the Melissa Beckwith stable last weekend (Oct. 31) going wire-to-wire in a conditional race.
Up into the $18,000 Open on Saturday, Ammo was bet down to odds of even-money with Aaron Byron in the bike.
Blasting off the gate with early speed, Ammo cruised to the lead in a :27.1 first quarter in the feature before backing it down to a get a half in :57.3. The favorite felt just mild pressure before being confronted by pocket-sitting Mydadsaid A (Jimmy Devaux). The challenge was rebuffed by Ammo, who held strong in the stretch before stopping the timer in 1:53.1 to record his first Open score.
Mydadsaid A finished second while longshot Prairie Rocknroll (Billy Dobson) finished third.
Ammo, an earner of close to $800,000 in his career, won for the seventh time in 2026.
Live racing continues on Sunday with a matinee set to begin at noon.