Racing Secretary Peter Iovino did an outstanding job sending out invitations for Saturday’s $150,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial at Saratoga Harness. The eight finalists comprise a stellar group of the best pacers in training.

What Iovino wouldn’t know, until after the posts were drawn, was just what kind of betting race would be established. When world champion and division leader This Is The Plan landed post seven and the brilliantly-fast phenom Nicholas Beach drew post eight, the race effectively became a handicap. On the opposite side of the equation was Leonidas A. Hampered by post seven in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series final in April at Yonkers, the import landed the pole position in the eight-horse field.

“He can definitely leave out of there,” said trainer Jeff Gregory, who has conditioned the 6-year-old son of Mach Three for the last month. “I was a little disappointed by his effort last Saturday. The conditions were bad, and I thought he should have finished better.”

Read the full story at DRF Harness here.