Yonkers: Jimmy Freight lowers track record in winning Messenger elimination

A pair of $40,000 Messenger eliminations for sophomore pacing males on Saturday night set the field for next week's final at Yonkers Raceway, and it would be Babes Dig Me and Jimmy Freight winning. Jimmy Freight, a supplemental entrant, won the quicker of the two contests, turning in a track record 1:50 3/5 performance.

Starting from post four in the field of six in the second elimination, Jimmy Freight (Louis-Philippe Roy) easily made front, chopped out fractions of 27 4/5, 56 2/5, and 1:23 4/5, and zipped home in 26 4/5 to defeat a first-up Springsteen (Brian Sears) by 3 3/4 lengths. Cane Pace winner Stay Hungry (Doug McNair) came on in the lane to get third, and Winston (Corey Callahan) also moved on to the final.

"Jimmy was feeling really good tonight. I didn't have to pull the ear plugs on him," said Roy, who made his first drive at Yonkers a winning one. "He was still feeling strong at the wire, so I just hope he's going to be the same next week. Even going in the third turn he wanted to go more. I was saying then slow down you've still got three-eighths to go. He was feeling so good I don't think anybody could have touched him today. The horse likes going around the half-mile. He's as good as in the turns as in the stretch, so it helps him if some other horse has a little bit of a problem going around the turn. Him, he doesn't care. He likes it.

"You can drive him any way. He can leave the gate hard, but you can do what you want. So, on a half-mile, when you've got a good post you want to use him, and he can do it. He's perfectly-suited for a half-mile, especially for this track."

Andrew Harris trains Jimmy Freight, a Sportswriter colt, for owner Adriano Sorella. This was Jimmy Freight's 15th career win, and he has now earned $519,274. He was the 3-5 favorite and paid $3.30 to win.

Back in the opening elimination, Topville Olympian (Sears) left well from post four and out-footed pole starter Babes Dig Me (George Brennan) in the first turn, but Babes Dig Me moved into control nearing the 26 3/5 opening quarter. Brennan was able to back down the half to 56 1/5 and then picked it back up to 1:24 3/5 to three-quarters as JK Wildfire (Jason Bartlett) was advancing first-up. JK Wildfire continued to grind away through the lane, but Babes Dig Me dug in to win by a head in 1:52 2/5. Topville Olympian found late room up the inside for third, and 3-5 choice Nutcracker Sweet (Jordan Stratton) just got up for the last spot in the final.

"I knew he had speed. Cat Manzi, who trains for (Tony) Alagna, said I think you'll like him," remarked Brennan. "Cat's usually right, and I did. Topville Olympian pretty much out-paced me in the first turn, so he didn't really have to let me go, but we were going pretty good. We went all-out to the quarter and I was able to rate him kindly in the second quarter. He fought off a tough JK Wildfire there.

"He's very handy. He can leave the gate good, and then come back to me good. He relaxes pretty good on the front-end, and he's got some fight into him late. I liked him a lot. Now we've just got to hope for a good draw."

Babes Dig Me, a Somebeachsomewhere colt, is trained by Alagna for the ownership group of Brad Grant, Joe Sbrocco, Robert Leblanc, and In The Gym Partners. Babes Dig Me is now a three-time winner in his life, and he has pocketed $191,252. He was the 2-1 second choice and returned $6.30 to win.