by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway

Saratoga, NY — The temperature on Saratoga’s infield tote board was up in the 40s during live racing this weekend and the early double was drenched with sunlight. With these sure signs that spring has sprung, racing begins its spring racing schedule this week.

April means four night a week racing with Wednesdays being added to the Thursday-Saturday calendar. The four night schedule will stay in place all the way through September and will actually add another night during August as the Spa City’s activity will be as high as can be. The added Wednesday card will feature a blend of claimers and conditions (11 races scheduled for the first Wednesday) but the features will stick to their regular days as the mares go Thursday, trotters Friday and open pacers Saturday.

This past Saturday’s (March 31) Open Pace saw a repeat winner for just the second time this year. Gimmebackmybullets would be starting from the outside seven post while seeking to go back-to-back in the feature. Reinsman Denis St. Pierre would put the favorite on the front end heading down the back stretch and they would never look back.

While shaking his major nemesis from the early part of the season (Our First Falcon N), Gimmebackmybullets succeeded in his try to repeat. Whelan Mike, the only other one to go back-to-back in the open, was the runner-up to the favored Gimmebackmybullets on Saturday night.

A purchase from the horse sale at the beginning of the year, Gimmebackmybullets was coming off a giant season of New York Sire Stakes as well as competitions against some of the top 3-year-old in the country last year. A win in the Rooney Pace propelled the Bettor’s Delight gelding over the $400,000 mark in earnings for ’06, making him one of the richest horses in the country last year. Gone now are the days of Sire Stakes competition and only racing against horses his own age and so far, Gimmebackmybullets has been up to the task in battling some older competition.

Trained by one of Saratoga’s top conditioners Jackie Rousse, Gimmebackmybullets was purchased by Randy Zane of Lachine, Quebec. After a couple of cracks (and a win) in the Saratoga open, the 4-year-old headed up to Canada to compete at Hippodrome de Montreal. He scored a victory in his debut north of the border, but after being a beaten favorite in back-to-back outings there, it was back to the Spa.

Back to the Spa meant back to the front end as since his return, “Bullets” has prevailed now twice with a close up second in the other outing. Saturday’s score was the most impressive, coasting towards the finish for a dazzling victory in 1:54.4. The youngest member of the pacing feature has been great so far in a year where his trainer Jackie Rousse is off to another sensational start.

The Dan Cappello, Jr. section of this article has become a regular one and this week the Spa’s leading driver is again in the highlight reel. Seven more wins in the three nights of racing were highlighted by another four bagger on Saturday night. Coming from off the pace, on the front, with favorites and longshots, Cappello has just had a nose for the finish line this year and is driving his best ever.

This week though, he was second for wins by a driver as Brian Allen had a standout week. Entering the week in seventh place in the driver standings, Allen was off to a decent start to the year. Decent has become very good after this weekend’s action.

Thursday night, Allen rattled off three consecutive victories and Friday meant back-to-back hat tricks for the driving veteran. Three more wins, all guiding trotters to the winner’s circle on Friday evening. Saturday was no different on pace night as Allen again had a big night, piloting two more winners on the program. All told, eight wins in a week where he had 19 drives. Not a bad win percentage for the maroon and blue clad reinsman.

A regular at Saratoga now for the third straight year, Allen has made a home for himself and consistently has ranked highly amongst the Spa drivers. The 42-year-old Allen continues to pick up better and better drives and has used his experience and timing well enroute to a good start to ’07.

This week’s horse to watch comes from last Thursday night’s Fillies and Mares Open. Scott Mongeon’s Bali Mystic N is still on the comeback trail and was posting just her fifth start of the year on Thursday. The New Zealand invader was two-for-two last year, posting wire-to-wire wins in 1:56. The future looked bright for the now 6-year-old. A runner up outing in the first open of the year was a promising sign that Bali Mystic N would be a factor in the feature this season. After being scratched sick and nearly a month layoff, Bali Mystic N had two starts back under her belt in the open before dead heating for the win in her last try while down in class.

This week it was back to the feature for the mare and she did not disappoint. Posting the fastest final quarter of the year by any horse at the Raceway, Bali Mystic N sizzled home to be the runner-up in the open behind the heavy favorite, undefeated Express Ball N. Though the winner appeared to be in hand, the brush in the stretch by Bali Mystic N showed that she will be heard from quite often this year in the ladies open and may find herself in the winner’s circle soon.

This week though, Bali Mystic N drew post seven for the Thursday open and will be squaring off against a very good group of open mares as a nice blend of locals and out of towners will campaign in the $17,000 feature.

Come out and join us for live harness racing action every Wednesday through Saturday as the Spring portion of the racing season begins. All posts during the month of April are set at 7:00 p.m.