Saratoga Springs, NY — Always Watching recorded her second Open win of the season on Tuesday (April 9) after she went coast-to-coast in the matinee’s feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel.

Jordan Derue owns, trains and drives the mare who last year was the Horse of the Year at the Spa. Always Watching, a 6-year-old by He’s Watching, won nine local Opens in 2023 and 10 races in total en route to almost $120,000 in earnings and the Horse of the Year honors.

Tuesday’s victory in the $15,000 Fillies and Mares Open was her second in ’24 and came in a seasonal best 1:54.

Always Watching worked hard in lap one as she rattled off quarters of :27.2 and :55.4 before stealing a bit of a breather in the third quarter. The Derue stable star held strong and had just enough to withstand the late bid from back-to-back Open winner Arizona (Brett Beckwith) who was the race’s favorite despite drawing post eight. Fond Memories A (Larry Stalbaum) earned the show spot.

Always Watching paid $7.90 to win and led an exacta and triple that returned $17 and $78.50, respectively.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening at Saratoga with a first post time set for 5 p.m.