Freehold Raceway has drawn a field of eight for its weekly renewal of the Preferred Handicap Pace this Saturday (Feb. 23).
An Australian invader, Major Pocket A, has been assigned the outside post position for trainer Chris Scicluna and driver Dan Dube. He qualified for the first time stateside on February 8 and finished second by a neck to the excellent pacing mare Imprincessgemma A in 1:55.4. Last year in Australia, he finished in the top two 15 times in 22 starts, while earning almost $62,000.
Ozone Blue Chip will seek a breakthrough in the Preferred after numerous tries at the level and is set to start from Post 7 for Pat Berry and Ron Coyne. Last week, he finished second at 30-1 behind Lyons Steel. He hasn't won yet this year, but has finished second three times, while earning over $9,500.
The rest of the field consists of, from the inside out: Texican, Newbie, Rancousy, Bronskimackenzie, Art Scene, and Winning Linc. The race has been carded as the eighth on the twelve-dash program, and carries a listed post time of 3:10 p.m. (EST).
The first race on the Saturday card at Freehold will be at 12:30 p.m.
(Freehold Raceway)