by Don Bielak, Publicity Director, Freehold Raceway

FREEHOLD, NJ – – Three $6,000 divisions of the opening round of the Swing Back pacing series for three-year-old pacing fillies were decided at Freehold Raceway on Thursday.

In the first division, a field shortened to four due to scratches, John Carrington and William Karrat’s Silver Street made every pole a winning one en route to a one length victory with Cat Manzi in the sulky. The daughter of Real Artist cut fractions of 28.4, 59.3, 1:29.3 and stopped the timer in 1:58.1 for the mile. Free Hand (Stephane Bouchard) rallied to nail down the place spot and it was another two lengths back to See Life (Yannick Gingras) in third.

Silver Street scored her fourth victory in seven starts this year. The trainee of Joe Karrat returned $3.40 as the odds-on choice in the wagering.

Division two saw George Muzea, William Popfinger and Michael Cashman’s Lt’s Magic register a come-from-behind, two and one-quarter length victory in 1:56.4 with trainer/driver Jim Marohn, Jr. at the reins. A late-arriving Cajun Laagacy (Jim Morrill, Jr.) finished second. Keystone Killarney (Jeff Gregory) finished third, four lengths behind the winner.

The Swing Back score was the third of the year for Lt’s Magic in four outings. Overlooked in the betting, the Magical Mike filly returned a win mutuel of $16.40.

In the third division, Manzi guided Joe Spoto’s Majestic Eagle to a pacesetting, two length win in 1:58.2. Cannae Kissi (Jim Morrill, Jr.) got a pocket trip and finished second, one-half length ahead of Spirit Of The West (Jay Randall).

Majestic Eagle, a Dave Elliott-trained daughter of Artiscape, closed as the 3-5 favorite of the crowd and returned $3.20 to win.

Manzi had a banner day in the sulky. In addition to his victories aboard Silver Street and Majestic Eagle in the Swing Back series, the 53-year-old Hall of Famer also tallied with Sam’s Best Boy ($5.20), Logans Rock N ($3.00), Wired N ($5.60) and Garth Seelster ($2.40).

The Pik 8, after several weeks of carryovers, was hit on Thursday. One lucky ticket holder was rewarded with a $2 payoff of $20,354.40.