When Adriano Sorella presented the concept of the Jimmy Freight Stakes, there surely wasn't a thought to having the O'Brien Award winning pacer on hand for the inaugural edition.
Not only was the racehorse-turned-sire-turned-racehorse at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday, Oct. 7, he was racing. In the top overnight class. And winning his first start back after being sidelined with an injury.
More on that race shortly.
The main event on the Saturday card of harness racing was the first $100,000 Jimmy Freight Stakes, a race open to any two-year-old colt, gelding or filly sired by Jimmy Freight, with no nomination fee or starting fee required. It's the first of its kind as the only Standardbred race restricted to the offspring of one stallion.
On paper, Resilience was the best of the eight Jimmy Freight Stakes entrants. Bet down to 1-9, the filly didn't disappoint her backers or her connections on this occasion.
With co-owner Louis-Philippe Roy at the controls, Resilience forged forward after the wings of the gate folded and landed on the lead just after a :27.2 opening quarter. A :55.1 half followed, with pocket sitter Rocket Freight (James MacDonald) less than two lengths back. Playtime was over for Resilience from there.
Roy asked the filly for some separation, and she responded. Her lead was more than four at the 1:23.1 third station and it just kept increasing from there. A :28.4 final panel was enough to pace back to her 1:52 life's mark and post a near double-digit drubbing on her sort-of siblings. Cowboy Cargo (Phil Hudon) was next best with Rocket Freight completing the top trio.
Trained by Eric Nadeau, Resilience (Jimmy Freight - Mia Seelster) now sports a summary of 4-1-0 from six starts with $150,616 in earnings for Roy, Ecurie Francis Richard Inc. of Becancour ,Que., Ecurie CSL of Sorel-Tracy ,Que. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pa.
"It was a lot of work to get it done and we had some ups and downs but I'm happy we're here tonight," said Sorella of the stakes event. "I thought we'd have a full field, and we did. I'm here with my family and my friends and we're excited about it."
The excitement didn't stop there, as Roy and Sorella returned to the winner's circle in the very next race thanks to the namesake of the Jimmy Freight Stakes: Jimmy Freight.
Making his return to the racing wars after more than five months on the shelf with an injury suffered in April, the eight-year-old warhorse looked like vintage Jimmy Freight with a convincing score in the $32,000 Preferred 2 Pace.
Sent off as the 2-1 second choice, Jimmy Freight settled into third as Southside Eddy (Sylvain Filion) pocketed favoured Powertrain (MacDonald) early and hammered out a :27.2 opener and :55.4 half. Roy gave Jimmy Freight his cue around the far turn, and Jimmy Freight shot like a rocket around the front pair to land on the lead through a 1:23.2 third quarter. Roy asked Jimmy Freight for some distance between him and the five rivals, and the stallion obliged by sprinting home in :27 to trip the timer in 1:50.2.
Emmetts Buddy (Tyler Borth) closed well for second with Powertrain in the show spot.
"Last time he definitely needed a few starts to just get back into race shape," said Roy when asked about how different Jimmy Freight feels in comparison to his previous return from injury. "Right now, I could tell even in the qualifiers he was strong. He's getting older, he has his issues he didn't have in the past but the desire to win is still the same."
Jimmy Freight (Sportswriter - Allamerican Summer) is owned by Let It Ride Stables Inc. and the Jimmy Freight Stable of Boca Raton,Fl. Richard Moreau is handling the conditioning. In 82 starts, Jimmy Freight sports a 36-18-13 with $1,973,410 in career earnings.
To view the results for the Saturday card of harness racing from Woodbine Mohawk Park, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.