Dealt A Winner and Smart Zone, New Jersey-sired two-year-olds, put their winning streaks on the line in a pair of Lou Babic Pace finals on Saturday, September 27 at Freehold Raceway.
Dealt A Winner (sired by Cams Card Shark) is the even-money favourite in the $100,000 Lou Babic for colts and geldings, the ninth race, while Smart Zone (Rocknroll Hanover) is the 7-5 choice in the $59,000 Lou Babic for fillies, the seventh race.
Dealt A Winner has four wins from his five starts, including his last three in-a-row. He took his mark of 1:52.3 in the Reynolds at Tioga Downs on September 12. The Ed Hart trainee will leave from post two with Jason Bartlett driving. He has banked $69,879 for owner Jeffrey Snyder of New York City.
Smart Zone, trained by Erv Miller and driven by Steve Smith, carries a four-race winning streak into the filly division of the Babic. She has finished in-the-money in six of nine starts, earning $33,757 for Paymaq Racing of Long Grove, Illinois and D&M Trading LLC of Chicago, Illinois.
The stakes record for the Babic Open of 1:54.3 was set by Dontloseyourdayjob (Life Sign) in 2007. The filly record, also 1:54.3, belongs to Ideal Helen (Western Ideal) and came in 2013. Both events are sponsored by the New Jersey Sire Stakes program.
Also on Saturday as a non-wagering event is a $7,000 third leg of the New Jersey Sire Stake – Green Acres for three-year-old pacing colts.
The Babic fields with sire, driver, trainer and morning line odds are listed below.
Race 7 - $59,000 Lou Babic Filly Final
1-World of Rock-Rocknroll Hanover-Jim Meittinis-Chris Ryder-15-1
2-Strut My Stuff-Western Ideal-Jack Baggitt Jr.-Ross Croghan-2-1
3-Lissan-Rocknroll Hanover-Jim Marshall III-Larry Remmen-7-2
4-Smart Zone-Rocknroll Hanover-Steve Smith-Erv Miller-7-5
5-Hollyrocker-Rocknroll Hanover-Eric Abbatiello-Larry Remmen-9-1
6-New Joez-Western Ideal-Jason Bartlett-Stacy Chiodo-30-1
7-Cheyenne Robin-Rocknroll Hanover-Daniel Dube-Robert Siegelman-30-1
Race 9 - $100,000 Lou Babic Colt Final
1-Edward Teach-Rocknroll Hanover-Pat Berry-Ron Burke-15-1
2-Dealt A Winner-Cams Card Shark-Jason Bartlett-Edward Hart-even
3-Too Darn Hot-Rocknroll Hanover-Eric Abbatiello-Ron Burke-2-1
4-Rock Of The Ages-Rocknroll Hanover-Nick Surick-Nick Surick-30-1
5-Devils Cut-Western Ideal-Jim Marshall III-Stacy Chiodo-15-1
6-Mitt Jagger-Rocknroll Hanover-Scott Young-Ron Coyne Jr.-20-1
7-Rock N Roll World-Rocknroll Hanover-George Brennan-Nifty Norman-6-1
8-Ticket To Roll-Rocknroll Hanover-Daniel Dube-Tony Alagna-30-1
(SBOANJ)