Southern Freedom best by a head in Joseph Grace Handicap
Southern Freedom set the pace and appeared to be headed briefly by favored stablemate Outside Nashville but dug in gamely and won a photo by a head in the $55,100 Joseph T. Grace Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa on Sunday.
Southern Freedom ($21.40), who had run in graded stakes in five of his past six starts, scored his first career stakes win.
Southern Freedom set honest fractions of 23.91 seconds, 48.19, and 1:12.35 in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for older runners as Hollywood Angel sat a length off him to his outside. Outside Nashville was third close behind the top duo while getting a ground-saving trip on the rail.
Southern Freedom, perhaps helped by the vet scratch of speedy stablemate Bronze Star, who had scored two straight front-running victories, opened ground on his rivals approaching the quarter pole.
That gave Outside Nashville a chance to angle into the clear under jockey Ricardo Gonzalez and set up a head-and-head duel during the final eighth of a mile.
Jockey Alejandro Gomez, who also won Saturday’s Robert Dupret Derby by a head with Sugar Buzz, kept Southern Freedom going along the rail as he gamely prevailed. The winning time was 1:41.97. Late-running Docs Legacy closed for third another 1 1/2 lengths back.
Gomez and Southern Freedom lost by a neck in the one-mile, Grade 3 All American on May 30 in the last start for the homebred son of Pure Prize.
The 5-year-old horse, who won for the seventh time in 24 starts, earned $33,000 to lift his career earnings to $265,285.
He is a Kentucky-bred by AR Enterprises, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, George Todaro, and Bluegrass Farms and is owned by Hollendorfer, Todaro, R. Dang, Mark DeDomenico LLC and E Zennedjian.