Freehold: Analysis for Friday 9/13

MEET STATS: 30-10-7-6/ $34.00 (-$26.00)

BEST BETS: 3-2-1-0 / $2.20 (-$1.00)

SPOT PLAYS: 3-0-1-1 / $0 (-$6.00)

BEST BETS: #4 GOING AWAY (2^nd Race)

SPOT PLAY: #2 PARODY (6^th Race)

Race 1: F&M TrackMaster 68.5

(2) DREAM PILLAR is four for 11 at Freehold and seems to beat up on the weaker divisions of TM 68.5 like she finds again here. She went wire-to-wire here on 8/23 at this level at 3:5 odds from the same two hole and has a mark of 1:57 1/5 here earlier this year. (5) BEACH PASSAGE is 0-24 this year but came within a half length of Dream Pillar on 8/23 and she has good early foot to find position. (3) BRIGHTEN YOUR LIFE makes her first PM start since May and her qualifier was very solid. Keep an eye on the tote board to figure out if she is ready. (8) PRINCESS SHARKTANK set too fast of a pace last week but the last two efforts show she has interest coming off the return from motherhood and three year hiatus and she could add value to the bottom of the ticket.

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Race 2: F&M NW 2 (Pick 4)

(4) GOING AWAY was competing in some fast miles over at Philly and won on 8/16 in an impressive 1:54 1/5. She arrived here at Freehold two weeks ago and made a long sustained uncovered bid, finishing third in 1:57 4/5 to You Beda Rock. You Beda Rock is in today’s 4th race, two classes higher up, after winning back-to-back races including an impressive wire-to-wire win at the Big M last Saturday. This field is a combined 5-155 on the win end and Going Away should crush these. (3) MAJOR RISE is a bit of an enigma. She finally draws well here at Freehold and has thrown in a few good efforts out of town at Harrington and Philly along with a few clunkers. (7) JUST MY MAMA was bet down to 8:5 last week from the rail and put in a solid effort. She certainly could land on the ticket with a good outer flow trip. (6) JIN BAG has been giving better efforts of late, collecting checks in five of her last six and she has early speed to find position.

RACE 3: TrackMaster 68.5 (Trot)

(3) ROBERT MICHAEL is still a 3-year-old maiden and faces a few veteran horses in here (albeit, a field that is just 4-109 in 2024) but he has by far the highest TrackMaster rating in this field and he has thrown in a few decent efforts over at Yonkers in some quick miles. He took a tour of this oval last week from the eight post and showed some trot and is well positioned here to have a major say in the outcome. (4) TRUMP THIS has earned checks in five of his last seven but is 0-27 this year. However, he had been chasing some fast miles over at Philly and won here at Freehold last year in 1:57 2/5. He is well positioned to make an impact here in an attempt to “Make Freehold Great Again!” (8) KING CAST may be a bit of a reach from the eight hole but this is the cheapest he’s been in for a long time and this is his third race off the bench. He could add big value to the bottom of exotics.

Race 4: F&M TrackMaster 75.5

This is a very competitive race where you can make an argument for just about everyone except for maybe #7. (1) SPROUT finally draws well and had some solid efforts earlier in the summer at Philly in some quick miles. Jimmy Marohn, Jr. should be able to at least secure a pocket trip here, if not be on the lead and this 7-year-old mare should be primed to make a statement. (4) UNCONTROLLED has been solid the last two here at Freehold, finishing second both times in some quick miles. She was bet down to 4:5 odds last week, has a mark of 1:54 1/5 here earlier this year and looks to make amends. (6) YOU BEDA ROCK lit up the tote board over at the Big M on Saturday going wire-to-wire at 28-1 in a TrackMaster 72.5. She bumps up again here but has good gate speed to overcome the outside draw and she is definitely improving. (8) CORSINI A keeps putting in solid effort after effort but draws terribly in here. She has beaten tougher this year but cold add value on the bottom of exotics.

RACE 5: NJSS Standardbred Development Fund 3-Year-Old Fillies (Pick 5)

This stacks up to be a two horse race between two fast fillies. (2) MIKI IN LUV has won nine out of 24 career starts including an eye-catching 1:50 4/5 victory on 6/30 at Philly beating some super tough fillies. In four of her last five outings, she has been chasing some killers in sub-1:50 miles and draws well in here to flex her muscles. (5) ODDS ON STENO is seven for 18 in her young career with 12 exacta finishes. She won the NJSS finals at the Big M on 5/25 in 1:51 and won earlier this year at the Big M in 1:50 4/5. (3) WHERE’S LARRY is clearly a notch below the top two but has chased a few fast miles, including a second place finish to Odds on Steno in the NJSS finals.

Race 6: NW2500/TrackMaster 75.5 (Trot)

(2) PARODY draws back inside after a no effort tour from the eight hole last week. Two weeks ago, he went wire-to-wire at this level in 1:59. He has five wins in 2024 and likely will sit a pocket trip here. I’m very surprised to see him listed at 12-1 ML. (4) OH LINA had some solid efforts earlier this year against tougher but has been a bit disappointing lately however, last week’s third place finish over at the Big M is a sign she could be headed back in the right direction. (1) HOLD ME CLOSER moves up again and hits the lottery by drawing the rail for the third week in a row. She has adjusted well to removing the training hopples and has gone wire-to-wire back-to-back weeks as the well backed favorite but has also benefited from slow back halves. Daniel Dube jumps on board and we are likely to see the same front-running effort here again but this is a bit of a tougher field. (3) CONGRESS HILL EVA is usually a factor at this level and has seven wins in 2023-24.

Race 7: F&M TrackMaster 68.5 (Pick 4)

(5) HOLD MY TIARA has had two straight decent efforts since dropping down to this level and this looks like the weakest division of TrackMaster 68.5 she has faced. She did some nice work earlier this season at a higher level and she’s poised to pounce here and to out race her morning line odds. (6) AMERICAN SILKS won easily at the Big M on 7/26 at this level in 1:53 3/5 and was a strong second on 8/31 there in a class above this. She doesn’t seem to have gate speed so she is pace dependent but if things go well, she could have a say in this one. (3) THANEEYA makes her third start here at Freehold after two bad draws and moves inside. She went wire-to-wire in a dead heat on 8/15 at Ocean Downs and we can expect improvement in just her fifth start in 2024. (4) BLUEBIRD CRUSH graduated the NW 1 two weeks back and put in a surprisingly good effort finishing third at this level in super fast race last week.

Race 8: TrackMaster 72.5 (Trot)

(6) IM THE MUSCLE was parked from the get-go last week from the eight post in an Amateur event and still only lost by four lengths. He won back-to-back races at Philly in July and if he reaches the top here early on, they probably won’t catch him. (2) WINNING MUSCLE popped last week shipping in from Saratoga and first time Izzy Estrada getting bet down from 12-1 ML to 4-1. He moves up but draws better. (1) INFINITE ZETTE has been doing solid work over at Philly in the Amateurs and is consistently driven by trainer and provisional driver Frank Tsipouras. He should be on the lead or be able to work out a pocket trip here and certainly has a shot.

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Race 9: F&M TrackMaster 72.5

(7) ROMA AMOR has hit the board in each of her last three starts but hasn’t been able to hit paydirt as the favorite each time. She clearly didn’t like cutting the fractions on the lead last week and the two prior efforts were strong uncovered bids that fell short. Siegelman sticks with this one and she may prefer an outer flow covered trip and the price should be better....My favorite moment in horse racing history is Dave Johnson’s call of Secretariat winning the Belmont, particularly when he said, “he’s moving like a tremendous machine.” Out of respect, I finally got to use that line last week when announcing (4) MADDY N MAGGIE. In the Italian American Amateur series last week, she was on the lead at the half by a length and a half and opened up and destroyed the field by 16 3/4 lengths. Amateur driver Matt Zuccarello looked back twice like Ron Turcotte on Secretariat, wondering where the rest of the field was. She moves up a notch and Harry Landy is on board this time and this 5-year-old looks like a completely different horse since joining the Izzy Estrada barn. (2) LAZARUS GIRL looked solid last week finishing second in her first PM start since 6/15. She won here on 5/18 in 1:56 3/5 and has 18 exacta finishes in 43 races in 2023-24.

Race 10: F&M TrackMaster 68.5

(2) RED DAWN has closed for two consecutive third place finishes from post seven and now draws inside. Jim King Solomon trains and drives and I have to imagine sitting around all afternoon until the last race for one horse means we will get an excellent effort at decent odds. (3) TRISH SPEAKER dominated a field of NW 1 two back by 8 3/4 lengths in 1:57 4/5. She stepped up to a tough TrackMaster 72.5 last week and was a bit overmatched but drops down here into a soft TrackMaster 68.5. I usually don’t like horses that recently graduated NW 1 moving to condition races but this is a bit of a weak field and that 1:57 4/5 effort two back could possibly put her in the winner’s circle here. (5) REACHIN FOR HEAVEN got pinned in a long way last week and had no chance to come close to a runaway winner. This is by far the easiest field she has seen in a long time. (4) HOT STUFF was in over her head at Philly last week and comes back to Freehold where she went off at 6:5 odds two back at this level and faded to fourth after cutting some tough early fractions.