John Calabrese and Maria De Bruijn barreled from off the speed and powered to victory in their respective $9,000 divisions of the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) Trot at Freehold Raceway on Saturday afternoon (May 20).
In the first division, John Calabrese timed his move perfectly to pounce with Cal Miles N Shell to victory.
Finnick Odair (driven by Tony Beltrami) took command to a :28.1 first quarter with Call Me Thefireman (Anthony Verruso) sitting the pocket. My Big Kadillac (Mike Polansky) came rolling first over to a :58.4 half and dug into the leader to three-quarters in 1:29.
Marching to the final turn, Calabrese tipped Cal Miles In Shell from sixth to the center of the course and motored by all his competition spinning for the stretch. Finnick Odair tried to fend off the charge but Cal Miles N Shell shot past under minimal encouragement and slid to a 1-3/4-length victory in 2:00. Finnick Odair held second from Parody (Pearly Allen), who rallied for third, and Call Me Thefireman settled for fourth.
Cal Miles N Shell is a homebred three-year-old gelding by Trixton for owner Calabrese Farms. Calabrese conditions the $5.20 winner.
Vendor Bill and driver Maria De Bruijn sat perched on cover through the mile and capitalized on backstretch chaos to score in the second division in 2:00.2.
Brownie (Mike Polansky) bolted to a four-length lead to a :28.2 first quarter with Masster Blue (Anthony Verruso) sitting second and keeping All Rise (Tony Beltrami) parked from third. Vendor Bill raced second over and coasted through a :58.2 half chasing a loose leader in Brownie, who in a few strides broke into a gallop and left the lead for grabs to the backstretch.
Masster Blue took a narrow lead from All Rise to the outside as De Bruijn readied Vendor Bill to move three wide by three-quarters in 1:29.2. Vendor Bill vaulted to the lead coming off the bottom corner and put away Masster Blue while Blogmaster (John Calabrese) emerged from a pylon trip to give chase and grab second, beaten 1-1/2 lengths. Fashion Cantab (Paul Minore) rode the pylons to finish third and Masster Blue faded to fourth.
Michel Heijnen conditions Vendor Bill, a five-year-old gelding by Credit Winner, for owners MR Racing Inc. and Maria De Bruijn. He paid $4.60 to win.
AHDC action continues at Freehold next Friday (May 26) with a division of the AHDC Pace. First-race post time at Freehold is 12:30 p.m. (EDT).