Austin Siegelman further asserted his dominance at Freehold Raceway on Saturday (Feb. 6), winning five races on the 13-race card.
He won for the first time in Race 4, with a perfectly-timed drive on Mike Posner's Atomic Rei. He surged in the stretch to get up at the wire over Somesurfsomewhere by a nose. In Race 5, he sat a great pocket trip with Proven Desire, trained by Chris Height, and got another win.
Siegelman completed the hat trick in the 7th race, going gate-to-wire on favourite Its Just Too Much, for trainer Allie Reynolds. He scored another front-running win in Race 10 behind Ultimate Flyer N for trainer Mark Infante. In Race 12, he completed the five-bagger with Ane DePietro trainee Shaving Mug.
After winning the driving title in 2020, Austin Siegelman is off to a fast start in 2021. He's won 34 races from 162 drives, putting him in first place in the local standings by a comfortable margin.
Live harness racing resumes at Freehold on Friday (Feb. 12) starting at 12:30 PM. There will be a pick 5 carryover, starting in Race 5, worth $1,285.70.
TODD WHITNEY WINS AHDC TROT AT FREEHOLD WITH 18-1 SHOT STINGLIKE A B K
As the field in the $9,000 American Harness Drivers Club Trot rounded the final turn at Freehold Raceway, temposetter Slated To Win and driver Tony Verruso had command and it appeared that they would be able to continue on to victory. But unfortunately for Verruso, Stinglike A B K and Todd Whitney had other ideas and that tandem rallied in deep stretch to win in 2:00.1. Both horses were longshots in the race, and together they combined for a $660.60 exacta.
For Whitney it was his first triumph of the fledgling season and his 158th amateur driving victory.
When the race began, Verruso sent his charge to the lead from post three. Whitney angled his trotter to the pylons after starting on the far outside from post eight. From there, Verruso set Slated To Win on cruise-control and they showed the way by the quarter in :29 and past the half in :59.3
Meanwhile, Tony Beltrami and 4-5 shot Broadway Bruiser were forced three-deep from second over as the field approached the three quarters. Broadway Bruiser stalled, and Whitney moved Stinglike A B K out from behind him to rally around that cover and up alongside Slated To Win.
When the leaders straightened for home, Slated To Win had a short lead but was overtaken by Stinglike A B K who then went on to a 1-1/2 length victory in 2:00.1 on the cold and windy afternoon. Broadway Bruiser garnered the show dough, two lengths behind the winner.
The race winner, a five-year-old son of Andover Hall, is owned by the late Robert Key and trained by Aaron Lambert. He paid $39.40, $19.20, and $8.00 across the board.
(Freehold / AHDC)