Freehold, NJ — Jack Pelling and Steve Smith both got hot in the cold weather at Freehold Raceway on Thursday (Jan. 28), winning three races apiece on the 10-race card.

Pelling’s patience paid off for most of his winning drives. He gave Beaver Creek Misty a perfect pocket trip in race one, then popped her out in the stretch to win for owner-trainer John Urbanski. He gave a similar winning drive to Tom Lail trainee Bad Day Black Rock in race three. In race eight, Pelling came from behind to win with Beach Fire K for trainer Aaron Lambert and the late owner-breeder Robert Key.

Smith won twice for trainer Bruce Lauer. He made a bold three-wide move with Prom King in the seventh race and powered away to victory from there. In race nine, he guided Bruce’s Magic up the passing lane in the stretch to give Lauer his second win of the day. Smith completed the hat trick in the 10th race, as he drove Caviar Star to a gate-to-wire win, giving Lail a training double.

Smith now has 16 wins during the winter-spring meet, putting him in a tie for second with Dan Dubé behind leader Austin Siegelman’s 23. Pelling’s 13 wins are the fourth most of any driver this season.

Lail and Lauer were two of the three trainers to register training doubles on the Thursday card. Urbanski also won two races on the day. In addition to his win in the opener, he sent out She’snobeachboy to a 26-1 upset in the second race. Luke Hanners had the winning drive.

Live racing at Freehold continues on Friday (Jan. 29) with a 10-race card starting at about 12:30 p.m.