Not Afraid showed his courage holding off Frost Bites K at the wire for a head victory in the $138,300 Dexter Cup for three-year-old trotters on Saturday, May 5 at Freehold Raceway
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Market Share, the 2-5 favourite, had his unbeaten streak snapped at six when he made a first quarter challenge for Not Afraid’s lead and broke stride for the first time in his career. He finished seventh. Not Afraid ($17.00, $4.60, $5.00), from the team of driver Ron Pierce and trainer Jimmy Takter, was on top at every call, trotting the mile in 1:55.4, a tick off of the stakes record of 1:55.3 set in 2009 by Anders Bluestone. Frost Bites K ($9.40, $8.60) made a bid for the win in the final sixteenth, but came up short. It was two and a quarter lengths to On The Podium ($3.60), who miscued early in the race, but rallied for third.
“The whole key to the race was getting everybody behind us except for Jeffrey’s [Gregory] horse [Market Share],” commented Pierce, who recorded his fourth Dexter victory. “When he tipped over, that gave us the race more or less. He was kind of hyper; he relaxed just enough to where he kept a good hold of the bit, so I was able to get him around there.
“He’s maturing very nicely," continued Pierce. "Today, if you watched him outside the winner's circle there -- coming back and walking up the hill -- he knows he did something. He’s got the idea. 1:55.4 -- that’s doing something on a half for a three-year-old colt this early in the year."
Pierce also won the Dexter Cup in 1993 with American Winner, 1998 with Trade Balance, and 2008 with Holiday Credit.
Not Afraid raced with trotting hopples for the first time in his career, but trainer Jimmy Takter said he didn’t think the change was a major element in Not Afraid’s win.
“I don’t think he really needs them,” he said. “I just put them on because the track is a little bit cuppy -- it was just to stabilize him. You want to play it safe a little bit."
Not Afraid posted only his second career victory, although he has finished in the money in 10 of 11 career outings, and boosted his earnings to $124,520 for the ownership of Christina Takter of East Windsor, New Jersey, John D. Fielding of Toronto, Ontario and Goran Anderberg of Malmo, Sweden. Christina Takter acquired Not Afraid as a weanling for $17,000 at the 2009 Harrisburg Mixed Sale. Fielding and Anderberg came on board in November of 2010.
The gelded son of SJs Caviar, the 2001 Dexter Cup winner, is out of Beverly Crusher. His only other win was in the $44,500 final of the Charles Singer Memorial on March 2.
“He’s a horse that didn’t race last year; he got hurt last year, he had a fracture in a hind ankle," explained Takter. "So he has a couple screws in him [placed by equine surgeon Dr. Patty Hogan] and he came back good. He’s a brother to In Focus, so he’s got a decent pedigree.”
Not Afraid, who is expected to make his next start in mid-May in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, is eligible to the $1.5 million Hambletonian on August 4, 2012 at the Meadowlands.
(With files from SBOANJ & HRC)