by Don Bielak, publicity director, Freehold Raceway

FREEHOLD, NJ – – The Real Dion, with George Brennan in the sulky, closed strongly through the stretch and captured the featured $15,000 Open for pacers at Freehold Raceway on Saturday.

The Real Dion, a five-year-old gelded son of Real Artist, won by one and one-half lengths in a final time of 1:53.4. A late-arriving How Forever Feels (Pat Lachance) finished second, a head in front of the early pacesetter, LCB (Ron Pierce).

The victory was the third in 11 starts this year for The Real Dion. Overlooked in the wagering at 7-1, the Kelvin Harrison owned and trained gelding returned a win mutuel of $16.40.