Freehold, NJ — Common Sense S looked like much the best on paper going into the second leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for 2-year-old trotting fillies at Freehold Raceway on Friday (Sept. 6). She vindicated that good form, prevailing by 1-1/2 lengths in 2:00.

Trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt wasted no time with his filly, putting her right on the lead. He let her walk through a quarter of :29.2 and a half of :59.4. On the final turn, she received challenges from DJ’s Midnight Jazz and Tricky Sister, but she easily dismissed them and cruised down the stretch to secure the victory.

This was Common Sense S’s third stakes win in a row, having won the Tompkins and the Reynolds at Tioga Downs in her past two races. She paid $2.20 to win and $2.10 to place; no show wagering was offered.

Barley took the second leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings, winning as the 6-5 favorite. He couldn’t clear to the lead right away, but driver Eric Abbatiello motored him to the front and wrestled the lead away from Trickydickson by the opening quarter. From there, there were no anxious moments, as he coasted to a 2-1/2 length victory in 2:01.1. This was the second win in a row for the Nifty Norman-trained gelding.

Driver Joe Bongiorno won three races on the card. He took the opener with 4-5 Justabitofcharm, then won the Preferred Handicap Trot with Marley’s Guy, trained by his sister Jenn. Joe capped off the hat trick with Jeramaya, weaving his way through stretch traffic to score.

A string of upsets resulted in two carryovers for Freehold’s Saturday (Sept. 7) card. The Pick-5 will have a double carryover of $3,113.79, while the early Pick-4 will have a carryover of $1,293.92. The sequences start in race five and race two, respectively.