Young New Jersey-sired trotters will command the spotlight at Freehold Raceway this Friday (Sept. 25), as five stakes races in the New Jersey Sire Stakes-Standardbred Development Fund series will be on tap.
The card is headlined by the $56,000 final for three-year-old trotting colts and gelding, which has been scheduled as Race 8. Kasha V will be seeking his fourth win in a row, after having recorded victories in the first two legs of the series and the Garden State Trot. Austin Siegelman will once again be in the sulky for owner Theologos Moutafis and trainer Tom Corelli. Kasha V has drawn Post 5.
Kasha V is set to encounter several rivals that figure to give him a fight. Fly Eagle Fly just missed in the first leg of the series two weeks back, then was a non-threatening third last time out. He'll get a driver change to Jim Marshall on Friday. Fly Eagle Fly is trained by Marcus Melander.
Gerard won the other division of the second leg last week, as he edged out AP Hall Of Trix, who will also be participating in the Friday tilt. Eric Abbatiello and James DeLucia team up on Gerard, while Pat Berry and David Hoover drive and train, respectively, AP Hall Of Trix.
Kyrie Deo was the 1-2 favourite in the second leg last week, but lost by just three quarters of a length for trainer John Butenschoen and trainer Corey Callahan. He'll seek revenge from Post 6.
The card also features two divisions of the NJSS-SDF for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings, and two more for two-year-old trotting fillies. The first division of the former series will be held as a non-betting race, at 12:15 p.m. The second division also has five horses, and is scheduled as the third race.
The first division for the fillies features a field of seven, and will face the gate for the seventh race. Ake Svanstedt will send out a duo, in Broad Strokes and Illuminata. The former looks like the stronger half of the two, having finished fifth in the New York Sire Stakes Final at Yonkers Raceway last time out.
The second division is Race 9 on the card, and has six horses. Svanstedt is also represented in the division, with Wet My Whistle. She finished third in a leg of the Kindergarten last week at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
Post time for the first race on Friday at Freehold is at approximately 12:30 p.m.
(Freehold Raceway)