Drinkin Again Set to Defend Preferred Title at Freehold Saturday
Posted 1533 days
Phil Jasper’s Drinkin Again has quickly taken a liking to Freehold Raceway, with three wins over the track in his last eight races. Last out, he won the Preferred Handicap pace by half a length at 12/1. He’ll seek to defend his title on Saturday (February 15), lining up against seven contenders.
Jack Baggitt will be back in the sulky on the 6-year-old, who will seek to become the first pacer to win the Freehold Preferrred Handicap twice in 2020. He’ll leave from the outside post position eight. It will be interesting to see if Jack takes back, or tries to send like he did last week.
Two others drew for the outside post positions, and they’ll line up directly to Drinkin Again’s inside. Lyons Steel turned in a strong closing effort in his 2020 debut last week, rallying to finish fifth with a final quarter of 28 seconds. During the fall/winter portion of the Freehold season, he won the Preferred three times. Pat Lachance will leave from post position six for trainer Dennis Watson.
Winning Linc drew post position seven, for driver Eric Abbatiello and trainer Richard Johnson. He caught fire at the Meadowlands last fall, with three wins in his last four starts of the year. This will be his 2020 debut.
Smileandsaycheese, Ozone Blue Chip, Gotta Go BB, Solo Story, and Ginger Tree Marty complete the ensemble. The Preferred will go as the seventh race, with a listed post time of 2:50 PM EST.
Saturday’s Freehold card also features another renewal of the American Harness Drivers Club amateur trot, which will go as the fifth race. Wygant Prince, for owner/driver Paul Minore, will seek to make it two in a row at the class.
In addition, the hottest pacer based at the track, Jackamino, will seek his fifth win in a row in the sixth race, a NW $8,000 last 5/NW 9 pace. Vinny Ginsburg will drive from post position four for trainer Taylor Gower, who also trains Wygant Prince.
The first of ten races at Freehold on Saturday will be at 12:30 PM EST.
