Northfield, OH — Fred’s Dream Girl, skillfully and confidently guided by Bill Rhoades, captured Northfield Park’s Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association (GLADA) trotting feature on Wednesday (Oct. 28).
The 9-year-old Team Six mare showed she still has multiple moves in a mile by rallying late to score a 1-length victory over the late charging Macho Rodeo, handled by Harvey Hershberger, in 1:58.
Big Bad Caviar, with Joseph Yoder handling the lines, led the field turning for home but finished third, 3 lengths away.
Big Bad Caviar and Fred’s Dream played “musical chairs” early as they changed places on the lead through early fractions of :27.4, :57.4 and 1:27 as Peter Lets Go joined the fray at the third station.
Once Peter Lets Go began to tire shortly after, Fred’s Dream Girl, in the garden spot, had all the room she needed to romp on by for the win, safely holding off Nacho Rodeo.
The victory pushed Fred’s Dream Girl’s seasonal scorecard to 8-5-2 in 31 starts, good for $59,036 — her best season ever — and vaulted her lifetime earnings to $265,068.
Rhoades, making his first start in the bike in over a year, didn’t seem to have any rust on his reins at all as he sent Fred’s Dream Girl winging from post 4 before yielding and then enjoying the perfect journey, just waiting to strike once they turned for home.
Fred’s Dream Girl is trained by Cory Kreiser, who, earlier this season, surpassed the $10 million plateau in career earnings for his owners.
The 33-year-old trainer is approaching 1,500 career training wins.
Fred’s Dream Girl is owned by Ameer Najor.
GLADA is one of several amateur driving clubs whose members donate all earnings derived from driving fees earned in their events for charitable purposes — 501(c)(3) organizations have a positive influence on local and national charities.