Freehold: Incommunicado delivers in Dexter Cup final
Incommunicado, driven by Yannick Gingras and trained by Ake Svanstedt, backed up his victory in last week's elimination with a 1:56 3/5 decision in Saturday's $115,583 Dexter Cup final for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters at Freehold Raceway.
Sent off as the 3-5 favorite, Incommunicado left hard from post seven and was able to get around stablemate Ambassador Hanover (Svanstedt) for the lead before the 28 2/5 opening quarter. With nobody anxious to tangle with the heavy chalk, Gingras then put on the brakes in the second quarter, getting to the half in just 58 4/5. Believer (Brian Sears) began a first-over move out of fourth prior to that marker, and he would advance quickly into second on the third turn, putting pressure on Incommunicado.
Believer and Incommunicado continued to battle to the 1:27 three-quarters, but then Incommunicado quickened on the last turn, and both Believer and Ambassador Hanover, who had been stalking from the pocket, couldn't match that acceleration. After dispatching his closest pursuers, Incommunicado continued to widen through the stretch drive, and he hit the wire 3 1/2 lengths in front of Sunny Crockett (Andy Miller), who turned an inside trip into a second-place result. Fifty Ways (Steve Smith) was third from second-over, while Ambassador Hanover and Believer wound up fourth and fifth, respectively.
"I wanted to get him in the race and when (Credit Con) made a break in the first turn, it made things a little easier for me," said Gingras. "I knew (starting from post seven) wasn’t ideal. I knew it was going to be harder than last week, there wasn’t going to be a hole or something like that, but he still did it pretty easy. The horse raced good and did the job. He’s a nice horse. He does everything you ask of him."
A Chapter Seven gelding, Incommunicado is owned by Knutsson Trotting Inc., Little E LLC., Arthur Geiger, and David Stolz. Incommunicado is now a six-time winner from 12 starts, and he has earned $282,283. He paid $3.20 to win.
--Gingras quote courtesy of Ken Weingartner--