Christmas came early this year for Johnathan Ahle and the owners and trainers whom he drove for on Saturday, Dec. 23 at Freehold Raceway as he won five of his nine drives on the card.

Ahle made it look easy in race three when he steered 4-1 Ideal Suspect from the rail and led the way twice around the half-mile oval without facing any challengers. The pair completed the mile in 1:57 for owner/trainer Dominik Miga.

In race four, Ahle piloted Sneak On Bye at 5-2 for trainer Jared Cooper. They settled in fifth on the rail early on and just before the field reached the half in :58, Ahle pulled his horse to the second-over position. By the time the field reached the three-quarter pole in 1:27.2, Ahle decided to go three-wide, then proceeded to sneak on by the rest of the field to cross the wire first in 1:57.3.

Ahle continued his win streak in race five behind the even-money favourite, Fireball, from post seven. After spending the first turn parked out, Ahle found a spot fourth on the rail. The pack reached the quarter in :28.4 then after the second turn, Ahle pulled and charged forward from the first-over position. He faced the leaders, Tyler Miller and Lets Foal Around, who were not going to give way to Ahle without a fight. This meant Ahle was left parked passed the half (:59) and the three-quarter (1:28.2). But it did not matter, as he rallied some late pace to pass them, with Fireball pacing the fastest last quarter of the race in :29.2. They paced the mile in 1:57.4. Dan Morrisey was the winning trainer and Scott Rubman was the winning owner.

A win from post seven is impressive enough; it happens just 5.7 per cent of the time at Freehold Raceway, but back-to-back wins from post seven is even more impressive. Ahle accomplished just that and more in race six. The cherry on top was that it was also his fourth win in a row. In the first turn, he was able to find a spot fifth on the rail with the Ken Tisa-owned and trained My Boy Jack. He pulled first-over coming out of the second turn and went on to battle the leader, the 3-5 favourite, Vel Big Bruiser, driven by Mark Herschberger. Ahle didn’t clear them until they reached the stretch but his mount had enough pace left to win in 1:57.3, three lengths ahead of the next finisher.

Though that was the end of the streak, it was not the last time Freehold fans saw Ahle in the winner’s circle that day. In race nine, he captured the feature race, the $12,000 Preferred Handicap Pace, with 3-2 favourite Yo A J (pictured above) for Kathleen LaMontagne.  After leaving from post four and battling three-wide in the first turn, Ahle and Yo A J managed to clear to the lead on the rail just as they reached the quarter in :27.3. He continued to lead the way, passing the half in :57.2 and the three-quarter pole in 1:26.1. In the stretch, they pulled away from the field, crossing the wire in 1:54 and winning by 3-1/4 lengths.

“'A J' always gives 100 per cent. He really is a lot of fun to drive," said Ahle.

Today’s performance just put Ahle passed the 300 mark for wins on the year, now at 304. He also has 12 drives tonight at the Meadowlands.

“I think I have some shots to do well tonight," he said. "We’ll try to keep things rolling and have some fun.”

Ahle is also just a few thousand dollars shy of reaching $3 million in earnings for the year, which he should easily be able to achieve. These certainly contribute to an impressive resume for the 26-year-old driver.

When asked about his successful day at Freehold Raceway, he humbly said, “I just had a lot of horses in good spots today and the trips worked out.”

Freehold Raceway will host two more days of racing in 2023: next Friday, Dec. 29 and Saturday, Dec. 30, starting 12:30 p.m.

Beltrami Bags Closing AHDC Preliminary

Tony Beltrami took his competition pillar to post in the lone $9,000 dash for the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) Trot driving All Rise at Freehold on Saturday.

Leaving from post two, Beltrami secured an easy lead with All Rise when pylon-starter Train (Jacob Stillwell) broke stride into the first turn. All Rise clicked by the quarter in :28.3 and trotted unpressured to a :58.3 half while Trump This (Paul Minore) sat parked on the rim in midfield. With the outside tier stalled, All Rise coasted up the backstretch to three-quarters in 1:29.1 and strolled through the final turn to stride home a 1-3/4-length winner in 2:00.1 over Awol Hanover (Steven Reisenweaver), who pulled off the pegs into the far turn and gave chase for second. Call Me Thefireman (Anthony Verruso) rode the pocket to finish third and My Big Kadillac (Mike Polansky) circled the backfield for fourth.

Beltrami owns and Maria Alvarez trains All Rise, a six-year-old gelding by Conway Hall. All Rise paid $5.80 to win.

AHDC action will conclude on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31) at Harrah’s Philadelphia with the Fall Trotting Series final. Harrah’s Philadelphia will have a special post time for the holiday with the first race slated to go at 4 p.m. (EST).

(With files from Freehold and the AHDC)