Ginsburg gets grand slam at Freehold

Vinny Ginsburg was no stranger to the winner’s circle during Freehold Raceway’s 10-race Friday (Mar. 22) harness racing card. He won four times to score a grand slam.

He set the tone early, with a win in race one aboard Eataams Trauma (Mach Three), the 5-2 second choice. They slugged it out in the stretch with the favorite but ultimately held on to win it by ½ lengths. The winning trainer, Paul Fusco, benefitted from Ginsburg’s hot hands; the pair teamed up to win again in race five with Caviart Sabrina (Always B Miki) from post seven.

Ginsburg went back-to-back and took race six as well. He steered Makin Magic Tonite (Kadabra) wire-to-wire to win for trainer Jenna Cornelison, who scored a training double on the card.

The fourth win wasn’t going to come easy for Ginsburg; he had long shots for the remainder of the card. In his final drive of the day, he got away sixth from post six with 13-1 shot, Best Choice (Ponder) for trainer Bill Bena.

After the second turn, Ginsburg followed the helmet in front of him when they pulled to the outer flow, giving him third-over positioning as they reached the half. Shortly after the third turn, something went awry with their cover and Best Choice was forced to go three-wide around them. Ginsburg continued to steer Best Choice three-wide through the final turn. The pair still had three horses to pass and was starting to run out of steam, but they had enough fight in them to get them across the wire first by a nose in a tight, three-way photo finish. Scoring a grand slam is always a thrill but completing it with a gritty long shot victory certainly must make it much sweeter.

BEST CHOICE REPLAY

Best Choice wasn’t the only long shot to prevail on the card. John Ahle also experienced the thrill of a long shot victory when he scored with the longest shot on the board from post seven in race two. He steered Hold My Tiara (Aracache Hanover) from sixth to first in the stretch after swooping four-wide passed the field in the final turn. They had the most late-pace to win it at 35-1. Brian Magie was the winning trainer.

Freehold Raceway returns tomorrow, Saturday (Mar. 23) with more live racing starting at 12:30PM.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Katie Eick, for Freehold Raceway