Two-year-old pacer Jimmy Freight might not be a household name, but his new owner hopes that he's found gold -- Ontario Sires Stakes Gold -- with an undefeated son of Sportswriter racing in the U.S. midwest.
Trot Insider has learned that Jimmy Freight has been purchased by owner Adriano Sorella. According to Sorella, Jimmy Freight (Sportswriter - Allamerican Summer) is set to make his Ontario debut in the OSS Gold event scheduled for July 20 at Mohawk Racetrack. The colt has been previously racing on the Iowa fair circuit, having gone unbeaten in five starts.
“I went to look up his lines and I kind of laughed a little when I saw the 2:16.2 mile,” said the colt’s new owner. But Sorella later learned that these times were actually impressive given the track conditions and other factors. Jimmy Freight took his current mark of 1:58.1 in his most recent start in What Cheer, Iowa, with a final quarter in :28.3. That mile, a divisional track record, was also the fastest on the 13-race card by more than three full seconds.
Sorella noted that the new purchase wasn’t an easy one to make.
"We were actually trying to buy a different horse first and the deal fell through. Then he [the agent] told me about this horse. So we tried getting a hold of [former trainer and part-owner] Rick Huffman and we were just having a hard time getting a hold of him. We actually had to send somebody to the racetrack to tell him that we’ve been leaving messages for him regarding this horse. I thought the deal wasn’t going to get done because we couldn’t get a hold of Rick.
"Two days later Tony Alagna called me up, he knew I’ve been looking for this horse, and he called me up and said he knew one of the partners. So he called one of the partners and told them I wanted to buy this horse so we ended up getting the deal done.”
While the exact purchase price was not disclosed, Sorella would say that the final price tag on Jimmy Freight went into the six-figure range. It's the second recent six-figure purchase for Sorella as he has also obtained two-year-old Somebeachsomewhere filly Lioness Hanover for a reported $100,000.
Lioness Hanover will be trained stateside by Rob Harmon, while Jimmy Freight will report to Tony Alagna's New Jersey barn to prepare for his OSS Gold debut. Alagna previously trained the colt’s full sister, Frog Pond Princess p,4,1:52.4f ($130,230).
While a driver has yet to be confirmed for the start on July 20, there will be some added incentive. When asked about rumours that any driver who gets three wins in a row for Sorella will receive a Rolex watch from him, the owner shot down the rumours and confirmed it was the truth.
“We started it as a joke, but now we’re pretty serious about it. I want to do something nice and see what happens. The sport could use some good promotion, and that’s what I’m trying to do," said Sorella. "Yannick Gingras drove one for me up here and got a win. We have a couple of horses going down to the States so maybe Yannick will get to drive them and win two more in a row.”