Thursday afternoon brought about the first installment of the Fillies and Mares Open Pace for the 2018 season at Saratoga Casino Hotel as seven distaffers squared off for a purse of $12,000 through the snowflakes that fell throughout the matinee card.

The Heidi Rohr-trained Tempus Seelster (Big Jim) was the even money favourite in the feature and driver Billy Dobson perched the five-year-old in the pocket spot in the early going. Longshot Mydelight Bluechip (Ben McNeil) cut the mile at odds of 17-1 but when Tempus Seelster popped the pocket after pacing five-eighths of a mile tracking the upset-minded leader, she meant business. Tempus Seelster cruised to the Open victory, stopping the timer in 1:56.1 over a track labeled ‘good.’ Mydelight Bluechip held second while Media Queen N (Mark Beckwith) earned the show spot.

Owned by Holland Racing Stable of Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont., Tempus Seelster now boasts 16 lifetime wins and more than $156,000 in earnings. The exacta and triple in the race, led by the even money favourite, paid $35.60 and $114, respectively.

Live harness racing resumes on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga with a matinee beginning at 12:15 p.m.

(Standardbred Canada with files from Saratoga)