Richard Moreau-trainee Jimmy Freight flushed first over heading to the half, ground towards pacesetter Backstreet Shadow, hooked wheels with the leader briefly in the stretch and slid to a 1:50.2 victory in the $225,000 OSS Super Final for three-year-old colt and gelding pacers.
The Downtown Bus bolted for the front with Backstreet Shadow rolling wide for the lead to a :27 opening quarter before clearing into the backstretch. Jimmy Freight, positioned sixth, tipped first over as Sharp Action Money angled off the rail moving to the half, timed in :55.4.
Jimmy Freight marched forward to match strides with Backstreet Shadow through three-quarters in 1:23.3 and continued to fight alongside the leader into the stretch. Veering in a touch, Jimmy Freight hooked wheels briefly before driver Louis Philippe-Roy took back slightly, edged out a touch and overtook Backstreet Shadow to the wire. The Downtown Bus, lacking racing room, settled for third and St Lads Neptune took fourth.
“Coming down the lane they locked wheels for a bit and then Louis got in and got back out again and I was just—oh my god,” owner Adriano Sorella said after the race. “I was just screaming my head off up there. I could tell he was going to win at that point and he’s been gutsy all year round. A lot of people don’t really know that this horse has been going back and forth from the US. I promised Richard [Moreau] that every single time he’d go to race he’d come back here, so he’s put a lot of miles on. He’s been on a truck and trailer a lot this year, so that gutsy performance there was all horse.”
A colt by Sportswriter, Jimmy Freight won his ninth race from 17 starts this season and his 16th from 29 overall, earning $877,791 for Sorella. He paid $4.50 to win.