The $16,216 Preferred Handicap Pace at Freehold Raceway on Saturday, April 6 was the Dennis Watson Memorial race, named in honour of the local longtime driver/trainer who passed away on March 4, at the age of 74.
In the feature race, which was the eighth event of the afternoon, Mark Herschberger steered Lyons Steel to victory. Lyons Steel went wire-to-wire and put up fast fractions of :26.4, :55.2, 1:24.2 and 1:54.2 to win by seven lengths.
Those who knew Dennis Watson knew that Lyons Steel (Rock N Roll Heaven-Lyons Luck) was a signature horse in his barn since 2018. On the day of Watson's funeral service, March 16, 2024, Herschberger and Lyons Steel teamed up to win with many of Watson family members and grandchildren there to cheer him on after coming to watch him race following the service. It is almost as if the presence of the Watson family gives Lyons Steel some extra go, because he was determined to make it to the winner’s circle today to join the friends and family of his former trainer who the race was in honour of. Lyons Steel is now trained by Jose Ramos and is owned by Bd Racing LLC.
Austin Siegelman continues to dominate at Freehold. On Saturday, he earned a driving triple for the fourth consecutive race card at the New Jersey track. Siegelman currently leads the Freehold driver standings list with 50 wins.
Those who watched the 10th race noticed a new voice in harness racing; aspiring announcer Joseph Romanelli called his first-ever race today in race three and did so well that he was given the mic in races 10 and 11 as well. Romanelli is 25 years old and spent the day learning pointers from Edison Hatter. Romanelli has been practicing calling races from his living room at home but got a chance to do it for real today and did a great job.
Saturday's card included a pair of $12,162 trotting divisions for the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC).
In the first division, Tony Beltrami guided odds-on favourite Landia to an off-the-speed score in 2:00.4. Donald Maiorano owns and trains the five-year-old mare by Yankee Glide. Spirit Of Success (John Calabrese) tracked the winner’s rally to grab second with Awol Hanover (Steven Reisenweaver) securing third.
John Calabrese took control in the other division with his own trainee Shoemaker Hanover and motored down the road to a 2:01 win as the bettors' choice. The 11-year-old stallion by Cantab Hall is owned by his Calabrese Farms LLC along with Michelle Rickey. My Big Kadillac (Mike Polansky) ripped home from off the speed for second with pocket-sitter Livingontherail (Anthony Verruso) finishing third.
Racing at Freehold Raceway resumes on Friday and Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m. AHDC action resumes next Saturday.
(With files from Freehold Raceway & AHDC)