by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Casino Hotel

Saratoga Springs, NY — Congo King (Conway Hall) set a new lifetime mark on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 14) as he scored in the $10,250 co-feature for New York-sired trotters at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

Melissa Simser-Iovino photo

Congo King sets a new lifetime mark of 1:58 with his victory in the Saratoga feature.

The Dave Spagnola trainee came into the race winless in 2017 but on Thursday was up to the task.

Red-hot reinsman Jimmy Devaux piloted Congo King for the first time and set sail with him in the co-feature. After recording pretty comfortable fractions on the engine, the 5-year-old trotted away from his rivals before stopping the timer in 1:58, a new career best.

Devaux, who is getting close to the 5,000 win mark for his career, has been on a tear of late both at Saratoga and at Monticello, where he is the leading driver. Devaux scored five victories last Thursday at the Spa and had another five-win day at Monticello on Monday. On Thursday afternoon, the veteran reinsman piloted four more winners as he continues his pursuit of victory number 5,000.

Live racing continues on Friday night at Saratoga with first post time set for 6:45 p.m.