by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Casino Hotel

Saratoga Springs, NY — Twisted Pretzel (Crazed) has been the king of the trotters at Saratoga Casino Hotel this year. The Scott Mongeon trainee has had a breakout season in his 7-year-old campaign and on Tuesday night (Aug. 8), recorded his third Open Trot win of the year.

Melissa Simser-Iovino photo

Twisted Pretzel was a 1:55.3 winner on Tuesday.

Jimmy Devaux blasted Twisted Pretzel out from post position eight and made the early lead. After the favorite Smalltownthrowdown (Billy Dobson) yielded the lead to him, Twisted Pretzel got a nice breather in the middle half and reached three-quarters in 1:26.4. Up The Alley (Mark Beckwith) took his shot first over and drew nearly even with Twisted Pretzel at one point before the leader held firm and hit the wire first in 1:55.3. Up The Alley finished second while Smalltownthrowdown earned the show spot.

It was the tenth victory of the year for Twisted Pretzel who has earned most of his wins either in the Open or Winners Over levels. Because of his post position, Twisted Pretzel was dismissed at odds of 10-1 in Tuesday’s winning effort. He led an exacta and triple that paid $107 and $390.50, respectively.

Though the year is still young, Twisted Pretzel has certainly become the front-runner for Trotter of the Year at Saratoga.

Live racing continues on Wednesday night with a first post time set for 7:05 p.m.