Freehold: Thor De Vie victorious in New Jersey Sire Stakes final

7-1 shot Thor De Vie posted the biggest win of his career so far when he took the $50,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes/Standardbred Development Fund final for 2-year-old pacing males on Saturday afternoon at Freehold Raceway in 1:54.

Driven by Greg Merton, Thor De Vie released 3-5 choice Born To Be Bad (Steve Smith) at the 27 1/5 opening quarter and then remained in the pocket while Born To Be Bad chopped out middle-half sections of 56 2/5 and 1:25 3/5.

Merton angled Thor De Vie back to the outside coming off the final bend, and he would overtake Born To Be Bad before he paced away to win by 3 3/4 lengths. Born To Be Bad wound up second, and Iluvtomakemoney (Victor Kirby) finished in third.

Trainer Jim Graham also co-owns the victorious So Surreal gelding with partners Lee Winters, Paul Tandlmayer and Giuseppe Micchia. Thor De Vie now has a pair of wins from 12 starts, and he has earned $43,470. He paid $16.20 to win.