An Ake Svanstedt trainee won the $50,500 Charles I. Smith Trot for three-year-olds, but it was not 2-5 favourite Southwind Mozart.
Instead, 2-1 Crescent Fashion who scored a length and three-quarters victory in the featured third race on Thursday, September 17, 2015 at Freehold Raceway.
In the $35,000 Harold Dancer for two-year-olds, contested prior to the betting card, the Richard Johnson-trained Steed won with Daniel Dube driving.
The Smith and the Dancer are both restricted to New Jersey-sired trotters and are sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey.
Crescent Fashion [$6.20], driven by Scott Zeron, rallied first over to pass the fraction-cutting Mountain Top, who hung on for third by seven and a half lengths, and out- brushed Southwind Mozart for his third win in 10 starts this year.
All three top finishers are sons of Muscle Hill. The mile was clocked in 1:56.4.
Svanstedt’s third entrant, Natural Kemp, was fifth.
Crescent Fashion has finished in-the-money in six of 13 career starts and banked $88,198 for owners Laura K. Noren of Eastampton, NJ; Order by Stable of Boras, Sweden and Howard Taylor of Philadelphia. PA.
Steed, by Muscle Hill, was on the lead from gate-to-wire in the Harold Dancer, crossing the wire a half-length in front in 1:59.2, only two-fifths of a second off the stakes record of 1:59 established in 2010 by Chapter Seven.
A pair of Julie Miller trainees battled for second and third with Inukchuck Chuck, driven by Julie Miller, finishing ahead of Stayin Strong, with Eric Abbatiello in the sulky. Both are sons of Muscles Yankee.
Steed is owned by the partnership of TLP Stable of Florham Park, NJ; D’Elegance Stable IX of Florham Park, NJ; Vito Cucci of Belmar, NJ and Carmen Iannacone of Lyndhurst, NJ. The gelding picked up his first win in his sixth career outing, with two seconds to his credit, for earnings of $26,347.