Caviart Heather, Rockin Jukebox Win Freehold Stakes Saturday
Posted 1914 days
Freehold Raceway hosted a pair of stakes for 2-year-old pacers on Saturday (September 28).
In the Renaissance Final for 2-year-old filly pacers, Lucy Lightyear was sent off as the 6/5 favorite, coming off three straight wins. However, Caviart Heather pulled off the upset, winning at 25/1. In the early stages, Joe Bongiorno and Sus kept Lucy Lightyear and Stacy Chiodo parked out through fast fractions. Lucy Lightyear managed to clear to the lead around the second turn, but had to work hard to get there. Meanwhile, Caviart Heather was well back in the early stages, and it didn’t look as if she would threaten. However, George Brennan made a daring four-wide move up the backstretch the final time, and Caviart Heather zoomed by everyone and drew off to a convincing win.
The final time of 1:55.4 marked a new lifetime top for the Tony Alagna-trained filly, who is owned by Caviart Farms. Earlier in the meet, she won the first two legs of the New Jersey Sire Stakes- Standardbred Development Fund for 2-year-old filly pacers, before finishing a dull fifth in the final and third in last week’s elimination. She clearly regained her form here, however, as she picked up her third career win, while pushing her lifetime earnings over the $58,000 mark.
Rockin Jukebox won the second stakes race of the day, the NJSS-SDF Final for 2-year-old colt and gelding pacers. He tracked early leader and favorite Columbo most of the way, then angled out and made his move in the stretch. Despite some challenges in the stretch, he held on to win by 1 3/4 lengths at 5/2. His final time of 1:55.1 is a lifetime top.
For Rockin Jukebox, it was his second career win, with his first one coming last week in the second leg of the series. He’s owned and driven by Russell Foster, and is trained by Megan Foster.
Live racing resumes at Freehold on Friday, with a first post time of 12:30 PM EDT. The card will include a carryover on the pick five, worth $605.75. That sequence begins in race 5.
