Freehold, NJ — Tony Beltrami secured a cozy pocket ride with Dark Pool and pounced to paydirt in the $9,000 American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) Trot at Freehold Raceway on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 17).

Dark Pool scored impressively with Tony Beltrami in the AHDC Trot at Freehold. Vicki Wright/World Wide Racing Photos.

Starting from the pylon post, Beltrami pushed from the inside to snag a seat behind 6-5 favorite Lionhead (driven by Yogi Sheridan) heading to the opening quarter in :30.1. Hammer Creek (John Calabrese), the second choice, loomed uncovered through the turn and applied pressure to Lionhead moving to the half in 1:00.3. Lionhead rebuffed the leg-weary challenger up the backside and coasted by three-quarters in 1:30.3 with just Dark Pool swelling on his back. Upon straightening, Dark Pool accelerated up the inside as Lionhead levelled off to grab a half-length win in 2:01.1 at odds of 10-1. Train (Paul Minore) sat a pylon trip to finish third and Allindotime (Bruce Baker) took fourth.

Paul Fusco trains and co-owns Dark Pool, an 11-year-old gelding by Cantab Hall, with Tony Beltrami. He paid $22.20 to win.

AHDC action resumes at Freehold Raceway next Saturday (Feb. 24). First-race post time at Freehold is 12:30 p.m. (EST).