Three-wide move gets Juddy Douglas A home

It took a daring three-wide move in the harness racing backstretch, but Juddy Douglas A (Auckland Reactor N) was up to the task in capturing the $12,000 Preferred-Handicap Pace Saturday (March 4) afternoon at Freehold Raceway.

The 10^th race feature started out with the race favorite Lyons Steel (Tyler Miller) going to the early lead with Haggard (Vinnie Ginsburg) in the two-hole spot and Passa-Grille Beach (Jonathan Ahle) parked out first-over to the opening quarter mile in :27.

As they reached the half mile marker in :56.2, Lyons Steel and Miller were still in command of the field with Passa-Grille Beach still hanging tough first-over with Juddy Douglas A and driver Austin Siegelman taking the second-over spot.

Then in the backstretch, Siegelman swung three-wide with Juddy Douglas A but they could not clear and was stuck three-wide at the three-quarters in 1:25.4. It was not until the top of the stretch did Juddy Douglas A clear to first-over and was now neck and neck with Lyons Steel.

Siegelman then urged Juddy Douglas A on in the stretch and they were able to hold off a determined Time Watch (Jack Pelling) to win by a neck in 1:56.3. Third place went to Mcclinchie N (Jacob Cutting).

JUDDY DOUGLAS A REPLAY

It was the third straight win in six starts this year for Juddy Douglas A and his second straight in the Preferred at Freehold. The seven-year-old gelding is trained by Travis Alexander for Oldford Racing, LLC and Joe P Racing, LLC. He paid $7.60 to win.

A pair of pocket trips paved the paths to glory for drivers Yogi Sheridan and Anthony Verruso in their respective $9,000 divisions of the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) Trot at Freehold Saturday.

Sheridan secured a two-hole trip for Lionhead (Uncle Peter) in the first division, sitting behind tempo-setter Call Me Thefireman (driven by Anthony Verruso). Call Me Thefireman, after parking the mile last week, took the no-trouble route to the lead from his pylon post and carved a tepid clip of :30.3, 1:02 and 1:31.3.

King Cast (Jim King Solomon) mounted a first-over challenge past the half with Natural Kemp (Tony Ciuffetelli) loosely following second over, but the soft speed kept the field even in the final-quarter sprint.

Call Me Thefireman spun for home on a 1-1/2-length lead, though began shortening in stride as odds-on favorite Lionhead took aim. Lionhead landed the winning blow in the final strides to score a three-quarter-length win in 2:01.3 with Call Me Thefireman clinging to second over fast-closing Dark Pool (Tony Beltrami).

Terry Morgan owns and trains Lionhead, a seven-year-old gelding. He paid $3.60 to win.

LIONHEAD REPLAY

After having victory snatched in the first division, Anthony Verruso claimed revenge with Winneress (Credit Winner), who dove to a neck victory as the 2-1 favorite in 2:00.

Winneress procured a stalking spot from the pylon post while Gruden (Terry Di Cicco) combatted Trump This (Tony Ciuffetelli), who pestered along the rim. The embattled duo clicked fractions of :28.1, :58 and 1:28.4, which poised Verruso and Winneress to strike in the tiring final quarter. And “The Air Bag” obliged, darting Winneress through the open stretch to snag the win from Gruden with All Rise (Tony Beltrami) rallying around Trump This for third and Finnick Odair (Melissa Arbia) closing for fourth.

Anthony Verruso owns Winneress, a nine-year-old gelding who is trained by Symon Spicer. He paid $6.00 to win.

WINNERESS REPLAY

The AHDC returns to Freehold Raceway next Saturday (March 11). First-race post time is 12:30 p.m. (EST).

For complete race results, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink and Ray Cotolo, for the AHDC