by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Casino Hotel

Saratoga Springs, NY — Her Own Land (Blissfull Hall) had rattled off three consecutive victories at Saratoga Casino Hotel before entering the Fillies and Mares Open for the first time in April. The Melissa Beckwith trainee was then the favorite in three consecutive tries in the $13,000 Friday feature but came up second best all three times.

Michael A. Panzarino photo

Her Own Land rallied on the outside for a neck victory on Friday.

On Friday night (May 5), Mark Beckwith sat back early on with the 6-year-old mare who was patient in the early going while the fractions were sizzling up front. Following an opening quarter of :26.3 and half in :55, Her Own Land made a methodical march up on the outside before kicking into full gear around the final turn.

The distaffer moved her career earnings past the $250,000 mark as she came on to win by a neck in 1:52.4 for a new seasonal best. Betabcool N (Bruce Aldrich Jr.) was the race’s favorite and came up second best on Friday night while Milky Way Rae (Billy Dobson) earned the show spot.

After being favored in each of her previous three tries in the feature, Her Own Land paid $8.60 to win and was on top of an exacta and triple that came back $23.60 and $64.50, respectively.

Live racing continues on Saturday night with a 6:45 p.m. first post.