by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga

Saratoga, NY — Artful Way (Artistic Fella) worked hard early and hung tough late as the 4-year-old won the feature on Saturday night (Dec. 10) at Saratoga Casino Hotel for the eighth time on the season.

Melissa Simser-Iovino photo

Artful Way continues to prove why he should voted Pacer of the Year at Saratoga with another victory in the feature on Saturday.

Frank Coppola Jr. went pedal to the metal with Artful Way early on as the speedy pacer worked past his rivals to make the lead in a brisk quarter-mile of :26.4. Without getting much of a breather, the front-runner for Pacer of the Year at Saratoga held strong throughout while faced with the challenge of first over longshot Gibson Blue Chip (Jimmy Devaux).

While Artful Way has been a winning machine this year in the feature, his eighth Open score of the year was his first since Sept. The race’s 1-2 betting favorite stopped the timer in 1:52 on a cold night in Saratoga to best runner-up Gibson Blue Chip and third place finisher Bet You (Stephane Bouchard).

The exacta and triple paid $27.40 and $206, respectively. The victory was the tenth overall this year for Artful Way, who has followed up his 2015 campaign very well with his second consecutive season of 10 wins and over $100,000 in earnings.

Artful Way is owned by the Kellogg Racing Stables, LLC of Queensbury, N.Y.

Live racing continues at Saratoga on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 11) with a matinee beginning at 12:15 p.m.