Rock N Soul proved to be as solid as a rock for driver Yannick Gingras, who engineered a narrow score in gate-to-wire fashion with the Ron Burke trainee in Monday’s $130,000 Shady Daisy for three-year-old pacing fillies
at Freehold Raceway.
Rock N Soul carved out an opening panel of :27.2 before coming under mild pressure from even-money favourite Ticket To Rock at the mid-way point. With a sensible :56.2 half working to her advantage, Rock N Soul buzzed across the backstretch in :28.2 and easily put away the public’s top choice by the time three-quarter pole flashed up in 1:24.4.
Gingras felt heavy pressure at the head of the lane and all the way down the lane from pocket sitter Full Picture and her pilot, Ron Pierce. Their bid to overtake the leader was a fierce one, but the rally fell just short. Rock N Soul dug in to win by a nose over Full Picture, with Dancin Barefoot and Dan Dube finishing third.
“The front is always the place to be and figured I’d take my shot up there,” said driver Yannick Gingras. “I knew it was going to be a battle to the wire, and I’m thankful my filly put her nose in front.”
It was the second win of the 2010 campaign for the daughter of Rocknroll Hanover-Artchitecture, who is now a four-time winner in her career. The $65,000 payday bumped her overall bankroll to $248,601 for the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Frank Baldachino and Howard Taylor.