by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway

Saratoga, NY — Slugfest (Conway Hall) continued his winter dominance on Sunday afternoon (March 12) at Saratoga Casino Hotel as the Maureen Salino trainee scored another victory in the Open Trot.

Melissa Simser-Iovino photo

Two-time Trotter of the Year Slugfest is campaigning for a third title with another victory in the Saratoga feature on Sunday afternoon.

Reduced to a five-horse field after a scratch, the $12,000 feature saw Slugfest make the early lead and never look back. Jay Randall has been the regular driver behind the two-time Trotter of the Year at the Spa and confidently piloted the race’s 4-5 favorite on Sunday as Slugfest coasted to a wire-to-wire victory in 1:58.1.

Pocket sitter Lucid Thoughts (Frank Coppola Jr) was the runner-up while Just Make Believe (Mark Beckwith) earned the show spot.

In three tries in the local Open this winter, Slugfest has two wins and a second. His victory was the second on the afternoon for his owners Tom Vassilou and Nick Tallarico whose A Jersey Contract (Lucky Chucky) prevailed earlier in the day for Salino and Randall.

For the 8-year old Slugfest, it was career win number 37.

Live racing resumes on Thursday afternoon (March 16) at Saratoga with a 12:15 p.m. first post.