by Don Bielak, publicity director, Freehold Raceway
Freehold, NJ — Sleep Easy made short work of six rivals as he took the $40,000 third round of the New Jersey Sires Stakes for juvenile pacing colts at Freehold Raceway on Saturday.
Sleep Easy, a son of Dream Away, made every pole a winning one, setting fractions of :28.2, :58.1, and 1:28.1 on his way to a deceptively easy, three-quarter length triumph in 1:56.4 with Jim Marshall, III in the sulky. Western Glory (Stephane Bouchard) sat a pocket trip behind the winner and closed gamely to finish a close second. It was another length back to Gemini Jon (Cat Manzi), who finished third.
In taking the NJSS feature, Sleep Away won his seventh consecutive stakes event at Freehold for his owners, Sampson Street Stable, Jerry Silva, Deena Frost and TLP Stable. The Donna Marshall-trained colt returned $2.20 as the 1-9 favorite in the betting.
The $75,000 NJSS final for this group will be contested at Freehold on Saturday, October 9. Sleep Easy, off the strength off victories in each of the three preliminary rounds, will be the heavy favorite to complete a sweep of the series.