Joe Faraldo fired down the highway and Anthony Verruso vaulted off the speed to take their respective $9,000 divisions of the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) Trot at Freehold Raceway on Saturday afternoon (April 29).
In the first division, Faraldo protected the pylons with Grafenberg to grab the lead to a :29 first quarter and faced minimal challenge. Lionhead (driven by Yogi Sheridan) raced parked, but sat three lengths from the lead through a :58.4 half and made no gains on Grafenberg as he burst clear to a four-length advantage to three-quarters in 1:28.3. Grafenberg wrapped the mile under wraps 3-1/4 lengths better than Lionhead while stopping the timer in 1:59.2. Brownie (John Calabrese) finished third and Trump This (Dante Scattolini) took fourth.
Scott Di Domenico trains Grafenberg, a five-year-old Triumphant Caviar gelding, for owner Triple D Stables Inc. He paid $25.40 to win.
Anthony Verruso pounced off cover with Masster Blue and withstood closing kicks from a pair of foes to snag the second division in 2:01.3.
Finnick Odair (Tony Beltrami) took control past a :28.4 first quarter to pocket Midnight Cookie (Pearly Allen) while Masster Blue tucked into fourth. Verruso then angled his charge wide past a :59 half and motored three-wide up the backside as the field clumped past three-quarters in 1:30. Masster Blue overhauled Finnick Odair spinning for home and kept My Big Kaddilac (Mike Polansky) at bay to win by a half-length with Blogmaster (John Calabrese) storming home for third. Finnick Odair faded to fourth.
John Novello owns and trains Masster Blue, a nine-year-old gelding by Muscle Mass. He paid $11.20 to win.
AHDC action continues at Freehold Raceway next Friday (May 5) with the $9,000 AHDC Pace. First-race post time at Freehold is 12:30 p.m. (EDT).
(AHDC)