by Carol Hodes, for the SBOA of New Jersey

Manalapan, NJ — Favorites prevailed in both 3-year-old trotting stakes but the fillies were faster than the colts on Friday (September 9) at Freehold Raceway.

In the $75,000 Charles I. Smith, EL Rock (Yankee Glide-Courtney Hall) scored by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:58.1 while Firstclassprincess (Classic Photo-Princess Pan) coasted to a 3-1/4 length tally in the $65,000 Helen Smith for fillies in a career best of 1:57.4.

In the 2-year-old trotting stakes, carded prior to the betting program, the winners were Muscolo (Muscles Yankee-Vernon Blue Chip) in the $60,000 Harold Dancer final in 2:01.4 and unbeaten Riverfest (Windsong’s Legacy-Royal Roz) in the $50,725 Marion Dancer for fillies in 2:01.3.

All four stakes are restricted to New Jersey-sired trotters, and the events are sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey.

In the third race, EL Rock ($4.80, $3.20, $2.60), in the hands of driver George Brennan, was sent off at odds of 7-5 and bided his time until the half. He then claimed the lead by the three-quarters before hitting the wire in front in the Charles Smith to post his third win in 10 starts this year. Take Heart ($3.20, $3.00; Yankee Glide-Greatest Desire) rallied for second and Winuendo ($2.10; Windsong’s Legacy-Repititions) saved the three-horse entry with third-place, 6-1/4 lengths back.

EL Rock, trained by Anette Lorentzon and owned by her parents, who race as ACL Stuteri AB, nearly doubled his career earnings to $72,285.

Two races later, 1-5 Firstclassprincess ($4.80, $3.20, $2.60), driven and trained by Trond Smedshammer, used her rail position to take the lead off the gate and was never headed to win by 5-1/2 lengths over Ilia ($13.20, $7.40; Windsong’s Legacy-Tasha Yar), whose bid in the stretch was repelled. It was 5-1/2 lengths back to Taya’s Photo ($3.80; Classic Photo-Mystical Taya) in third.

Firstclassprincess scored her first win of the year and has now finished in-the-money in seven of 10 starts as a 3-year-old. Lifetime, she has two wins, six seconds and four thirds from 17 starts, earning $105,385 for Michael D. Andrew.

Harold Dancer winner Muscolo, driven by Mike Lachance and trained by Ray Schnittker, posted his third win in five starts after catching his stablemate, Kingapore (Revenue S-Queen Of Queens), in the stretch and pulling away to a 1-1/4 length victory. It was 2-1/4 lengths to Map Of Hawaii (Chocolatier-Keystone Vi Va) in third.

Muscolo competes for the Guida Racing Stable and Tom and Lou Pontone’s TLP Stables. He has banked $40,900.

Riverfest was a 2-1/4 length winner over Purple Rain (Muscles Yankee-Miss Garland) in the Marion Dancer. It was 6-1/2 lengths to Hula La (Muscles Yankee-Aloha) in third.

Riverfest, driven by David Miller for trainer and co-owner Joseph King, is unbeaten in three career starts. The filly took her mark of 1:58.4 in a Reynolds Stakes division at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and also won a conditioned trot last week at Freehold. The filly has earned $36,721 for owners Joseph King and Marvin Meyer.