The phrase ‘short but select’ comes to mind when talking about the New Jersey Sire Stakes-Standardbred Development Fund Final (NJSS-SDF) for three-year-old trotting fillies at Freehold Raceway on Friday (Oct. 18).
While there will only be five horses in the field, the race will be the rubber match between the winners of the first two legs of the series: French Cafe and Sexy Wow.
A winner of two legs of the Kentucky Sire Stakes earlier in the year, French Cafe impressed in the first leg of the NJSS-SDF two weeks ago, where she defeated Sexy Wow by one and a quarter lengths. However, Sexy Wow turned the tables in the second leg, where she sat a perfect pocket trip and fired to win by three quarters of a length.
French Cafe will have the post position edge in the final (Post 2). Andy Miller will drive, while his wife, Julie, is the trainer. Sexy Wow has the outside post in the five-horse field, and George Brennan will be in the sulky for trainer Nick Surick.
Marveloustrix, Lady Lone Star, and Taja Mahala round out the field. They finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the second leg last week. The final is scheduled as the third race on the card, with a scheduled post time of 1:10 p.m. (EDT).
The first of ten races at Freehold on Friday will head postward at 12:30 p.m.
(Freehold Raceway)