Saratoga Springs, NY — Sunday’s (Feb. 23) feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel was the $15,000 Open Trot and it went the way of an Open first timer.

Certify drew away to be a decisive winner in the Open, stopping the timer in 1:55.4. Melissa Simser-Iovino photo.

Certify (Credit Winner) was a winning machine in 2019, spending much of his year competing in New York Sire Stakes races. Whether it was traveling the Fair Circuit or racing in Excelsior competition, Certify thrived throughout his 3-year-old campaign.

A late season purchase by owners William Hartt and Marc Reynolds, Certify paid immediate dividends for his new connections when he won the $55,000 Excelsior final contested here at Saratoga in September.

Following a win last Sunday in his seasonal debut, Certify was up into the Open this week and wound up as the public’s 1-2 betting favorite with Jay Randall in the sulky.

The 4-year-old trotter cruised out to the early lead in the six-horse feature and traveled unopposed for the majority of the mile before Randall asked the budding star to crank up the speed around the final turn. Certify’s response was instant and he drew away to be a decisive winner in the Open, stopping the timer in 1:55.4 to move his local win streak to six and record his first career Open Trot victory.

Volare (Billy Dobson) sat the pocket to the winner before finishing as the runner-up while Cash Me Out (Brett Crawford) came on to earn the show spot.

The exacta and triple in the feature paid $14.20 and $61, respectively.

Certify is trained by Lance Hudson who has six wins and a second in his seven starts since acquiring the talented trotter in September of last year.

Live racing resumes on Wednesday afternoon at Saratoga with a first post time set for Noon.