Mohawk Warrior Wins Freehold Preferred Handicap Pace

A great trip paid off for Mohawk Warrior in the Saturday (November 6) feature at Freehold Raceway, as he won the Preferred Handicap pace by a neck as the 6/5 favorite.

 

Leaving from post position three in the six-horse field, Jim Marohn Jr took Mohawk Warrior back, and allowed Fizzing N, who left from the inside post, to set the early pace. Fizzing N set an honest opening quarter of 27.4 seconds, then turned it down for the first half in 58.2 seconds. On a track where speed had been playing well all day, Fizzing N looked to have the upper hand.

 

Despite the slow fraction, Marohn stayed patient with Mohawk Warrior and kept him in the pocket. As they rounded the final turn, Marohn pulled with Mohawk Warrior, and he made his move after the leader. The two battled down the stretch, but in the last few strides, Mohawk Warrior got up to win over Fizzing N. The final time was 1:55.1.

 

Mohawk Warrior is owned by Thomas Ceraso Jr and trained by Paul Stafford. In his career, Mohawk Warrior has won 34 times from 192 starts, with earnings approaching the $500,000 mark.

 

Austin Siegelman won four races on the 12-race Saturday card. He won race 7 on Drinkin Again, for owner/trainer Phil Jasper, race 9 with Bolder, for trainer Frank Kero, the 10th race on Pirates Alley, for trainer Edwin Quevedo, and race 12 on Ideal Suspect, owned and trained by Dominik Miga.

 

Freehold handled $519,842 on Saturday’s 12-race card, making it the highest handling Breeders’ Cup Saturday card at Freehold since 2014.

 

Live racing resumes next Friday (November 12), starting at about 12:30 PM.