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Freehold, NJ — Pro Beach bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the Preferred Handicap Pace at Freehold Raceway last week with a 1 1/4-length harness racing win this Saturday (January 8).
Jake Stillwell sat a two-hole trip to the top of the lane and then rallied Dark Pool to a length victory in 1:58.2 over pace-setter Shoemaker Hanover (John Calabrese) to win the $9,000 American Harness Drivers Club trot today at Freehold Raceway.
After leaving from the 5-hole Stillwell settled down along the pylons in in second position with Dark Pool as Calabrese led the field by the first stanza in 29 seconds. With the rest of the field unhurried nobody made a move and Calabrese got his trotter by the halfway point in :58.2.
Still clear on the engine Shoemaker Hanover showed he way by the three quarters in 1:28.1 but when they rounded the final turn and headed for paydirt his strides began to shorten and Stillwell had Dark Pool in high gear, and they rallied to a 3/4-length victory in 1:58.1. Take A Wish (Dawn Anderson) finished 3-1/2 lenghts behind the winner.
It was the 31st lifetime win for the 9-year-old Cantab Hall gelding who raised his career earnings to $299,608. He strained by Paul Fusco for owner Barry Franklin.
DARK POOL REPLAY
Live racing resumes at Freehold on Thursday (January 13), starting at about 12:30 PM.
For full race results, click here.
by Freehold Raceway & John Manzi for the AHDC
