by Don Bielak, publicity director, Freehold Raceway

FREEHOLD, NJ – – Rocknroll Hanover and Gryffindor won their respective, $136,400 divisions of the James B. Dancer Memorial pace for three-year-olds at Freehold Raceway on Saturday.

In the first division, Rocknroll Hanover made every pole a winning one, cutting fractions of 27.3, 57, 1:25 en route to a one length victory in 1:53 with Brian Sears in the sulky. Speed Demon (Ron Pierce) sat a pocket trip behind the winner and finished second. It was another length back to Weiss Hanover (David Miller), who stayed on the rail throughout and nailed down the show spot.

Sears offered his thoughts on Rocknroll Hanover’s performance. “He was very smooth today,” Sears said. “He’s been feeling better and acting good. He had a fairly easy time today”.

Sears, a winner of more than 5,000 races in a career which began in 1984, added that Rocknroll Hanover – currently the top sophomore pacer in the sport – is the best pacer he has driven so far.

Rocknroll Hanover notched his 10th win in 14 starts this year in capturing the first division of the Dancer for his owners, Jeffrey Snyder, Lothlorien Equestrian Center and Perretti Racing. The Brett Pelling-trained son of Western Ideal returned a win mutuel of $2.40 as the 1-5 favorite in the wagering.

In one of the most exciting races ever contested at Freehold, division two was won by Gryffindor in a blanket finish at the wire.

There was a great deal of movement right from the start of the race as Load The Dice (Eric Ledford), gunned away from the gate from post one and parked Gryffindor (David Miller) almost to the opening quarter which was timed in a rapid 27.2.

No sooner had Gryffindor reached the lead than Village Jolt (Ron Pierce) was moved from third position and made a big move for the lead.

Miller had no intention of letting Village Jolt get the lead, and let Gryffindor out to keep that rival parked past the midway point of the mile in a blazing 55.1.

The two leaders remained locked in battle down the backstretch, past the 1:24 three panel mark, and around the final turn.

As the field turned for home, Gryffindor stubbornly held a short lead over Village Jolt, and Dawn Ofa New Day (Brian Sears), who had worked his way into a contending position behind Village Jolt on the final turn, fanned three wide for his final assault on the leaders.

At the wire, Gryffindor responded to strong right hand urging by Miller and gamely held Village Jolt at bay to win by a neck in 1:53.4. Dawn Ofa New Day hung in the very late stages and finished third, one-half length behind the winner.

Miller admitted that Gryffindor had a lot to do with the strategy he employed in the race. “I was gonna give up the top at the half, but when I tried to take ahold of him (Gryffindor), he didn’t want to surrender. I hadn’t had much luck racing him out of the two hole in the past, so I just let him go on”.

Gryffindor, a gelded son of Dragon Again owned by Three Points Acres and trained by Brendan Johnson, collected his 11th victory in 22 outings this year. He paid $3.20 as the odds-on favorite of the crowd.