A great trip paid off for Mohawk Warrior in the Saturday (November 6) feature at Freehold Raceway, as he won the Preferred Handicap pace by a neck as the 6/5 favourite.
Leaving from post position three in the six-horse field, Jim Marohn Jr. took Mohawk Warrior back, and allowed Fizzing N, who left from the inside post, to set the early pace. Fizzing N set an honest opening quarter of :27.4, then turned it down for the first half in :58.2. On a track where speed had been playing well all day, Fizzing N looked to have the upper hand.
Despite the slow fractions, Marohn stayed patient with Mohawk Warrior and kept him in the pocket. As they rounded the final turn, Marohn pulled with Mohawk Warrior, and he made his move after the leader. The two battled down the stretch, but in the last few strides, Mohawk Warrior got up to win over Fizzing N. The final time was 1:55.1.
Mohawk Warrior is owned by Thomas Ceraso Jr. and trained by Paul Stafford. In his career, Mohawk Warrior has won 34 times from 192 starts, with earnings approaching the $500,000 mark.
Austin Siegelman won four races on the 12-race Saturday card. He won Race 7 on Drinkin Again, for owner/trainer Phil Jasper, Race 9 with Bolder, for trainer Frank Kero, the 10th race on Pirates Alley, for trainer Edwin Quevedo, and Race 12 on Ideal Suspect, owned and trained by Dominik Miga.
Freehold handled $519,842 on Saturday's 12-race card, making it the highest handling Breeders' Cup Saturday card at Freehold since 2014.
Live harness racing resumes next Friday (November 12), starting at about 12:30 p.m.
Although Shared Interest A was third choice in the betting, driver Tony Beltrami drove him like the favourite and sent him immediately to the lead from the two-hole and proceeded to make every pole a winning one en route to a 3-1/2 length victory in 1:59.4 in the $9,000 American Harness Drivers Club.
When the wings of the mobile gate folded Beltrami hustled his trotter to the front-end and led If I Must and driver Paul Minore by three lengths as they passed the first stanza in :29.3. Still in command when they passed the half in 1:00, Shared Interest A braced for a challenge from John Calabrese and Allindotime and they were heads apart as they trotted by the three quarters in 1:29.4.
Shared Interest A put it into another gear when they straightened for home and opened lengths on his challenger as he cruised home an easy winner. In the deep stretch If I Must rallied and trotted by Allindotime to finish second while Allindotime hung on for the show dough.
A 10-year-old Angus Hall gelding, Shared Interest A is owned by Triple Q Stables and trained by Edwin Quevedo. He paid $11.20 for the win.
(Freehold / AHDC)