On a sunny Saturday (Nov. 18) in Freehold, New Jersey, Vinny Ginsburg crossed the wire before the rest of the field for four out of the eleven races on the card, including the featured Preferred Handicap with Lyons Steel.
The Preferred Handicap took place in race nine. Ginsburg took the early lead from post three with 4-5 Lyons Steel, leaving Passa Grille Beach and Eric Abbatiello parked out. As soon as Abbatiello cleared to the lead, Ginsburg pulled and went right around him to take the lead again. He faced some pressure at the three-quarter pole but fended it off to win the Freehold feature in 1:55. The win was part of a training double for Dennis Watson.
After finishing second by half a length in race one, Ginsburg returned in race two and steered 4-5 Gold Star Yoder, also trained by Watson, to victory after a tough trip. He left from post five and ended up getting parked out for the first quarter of the mile and did not clear to the lead (which he maintained for the remainder of the race) until after the second turn. They crossed the wire in 1:58.4.
Ginsburg found more success in the second half of the card. In race seven, he settled in fifth on the rail from post five with 3-1 Albert A Scootin, trained by John Bavosi. Before the half, he pulled to the outside and stayed parked out for the remainder of the mile and rallied to victory in 1:57.2.
Ginsburg didn't wait long to come back and claim his grand-slam as he steered 1-2 Tie Your Shoe Ed to victory via a perfect pocket trip in 1:58.4. This win also made a double for the trainer/owner combination of John Bavosi and Frank Budzinski.
Tyler Miller had a driving triple while Austin Siegelman had a driving double.
Live harness racing at Freehold Raceway returns on Friday, Nov. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 25, starting at 12:30 p.m.
(With files from Freehold Raceway)