Saratoga Harness: Bit Of A Legend N upsets in Gerrity

Put up a quarter million dollars on a half-mile track and assemble the best pacers in North America, and you get a horse race. In what turned into the most contentious race of the year, 2016 George Morton Levy Memorial champion Bit Of A Legend N and driver Jordan Stratton surprised the field in the $260,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial at 15-1. The signature event at Saratoga Harness was action-packed from start to finish.

It was the fast and the furious in the first turn as Boston Red Rocks asserted himself from the inside slot and was accompanied by a host of other leavers, including All Bets Off and Somewhere In L A to his flank and 2017 Levy champion Keystone Velocity on the far outside. There was plenty of jockeying, but Boston Red Rocks was finally able to seat All Bets Off by the quarter as Somewhere In L A was in the two-path and Graduate champion Sintra had edged behind him, pushing Keystone Velocity three-deep and putting him in a spot he would never recover from.

Boston Red Rocks and Brett Miller had the lead through the 26 4/5 opening quarter and didn't relinquish it to Somewhere In L A until the half, clocking that mark in a spirited 54 3/5. Driver Jody Jamieson arrived on the scene instantly with Sintra and went toe-to-toe with Somewhere In LA and Jason Bartlett as the pair sprinted around the third turn and battled eye-to-eye through three-quarters in a sizzling 1:21 2/5.

Clearly by the final turn the leaders had exhausted themselves, and Haughton champ Mach It So, though parked the distance, was creeping up second-over. In addition, Jordan Stratton had saved ground much of the way and edged third-over past the three-quarters with Bit Of A Legend N. The 8-year-old by Bettor's Delight, accustomed to making one run, had the opportunity and Stratton didn't waste it, circling horses with precision on the final turn and rolling home for fun to score in 1:50 3/5, a personal-best.

Mach It So was dead-game in finishing second, with Boston Red Rocks finding room for third ahead of Somewhere In L A and All Bets Off.

Owned by Harry von Knoblauch Stable LLC., Bit Of A Legend N is trained by Peter Tritton.