Freaky Lover’s Super Final bid ‘something special’ for Dobrowolski

by James Platz

Freaky Lover will line up behind the starting gate Friday night (Oct. 9) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino with a chance to vie for the lion’s share of the $250,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final for freshman pacing colts. The gelded son of Freaky Feet Pete—SS Lover will not be one of the favored entries in the night’s seventh race, and that’s okay with Ed Dobrowolski, his co-breeder and co-owner. He’s just excited to have a chance to compete on Indiana Champions Night.

The homebred is trained by co-breeder Zach Miller, who with his wife, Dessa, share ownership of Freaky Lover with Dobrowolski. Anthony Miller will steer the four-time winner Friday night from post position 2.

“I know he’s not one of the top ones, but he’s still in, he gets in the mix,” Dobrowolski said. “And it was Zach and Dessa and Tony who felt like he could be competitive in that level, and sure enough, he got it done for us. He snuck in there.”

For the most part, Freaky Lover spent much of the summer competing in Indiana Sires Stakes eligible events, avoiding the top-level competition. There, the 2-year-old scored two wins and picked up a pair of third-place efforts under the guidance of Anthony Miller. But the partnership has taken some shots in sires stakes, the first coming Aug. 21. There, Freaky Lover raced sixth, timed in 1:53.

“Our goal initially was to see how he was and to get some points so he would make the consolation, right?” Dobrowolski said. “But now he’s got enough points where he’s in the final. So, we were like, well, maybe he’s going to make a good run at it. There’s several of them that are really tough in there.”

Credited with a single point for the August start, paired with a fourth-place effort in mid-September that yielded nine points, Freaky Lover entered the final preliminary leg October 1 tied for 15th in divisional points. He punched his ticket to the final with a narrow 1:53.3 triumph in a $65,500 split over favored Capt Peach. The victory launched him securely into seventh in the division, and instead of competing in a $50,000 consolation, the freshman will battle for much more on Friday. Freaky Lover now has to square off with the best in the category. The list is headlined by the Erv Miller-trained Mr Bear, a winner in eight of nine seasonal starts and the prohibitive favorite, sporting a mark of 1:50.3. He has drawn post 6 in the field of 10.

“Reality starts to set in,” the owner and breeder said. “Are we good enough to beat Erv’s horse? I don’t know. Because he’s popping, what, 1:50s or something as a 2-year-old, and our little guy’s coming along there. I mean, anything can happen, right?”

What makes this experience so special is that they have made the field with a foal from Shadyshark Hanover mare SS Lover. The mare kicked off the partnership between Dobrowolski and Miller, and when she sustained multiple tendon tears that ended her racing career, SS Lover transitioned to broodmare duties. Thus far, she is a 100 per cent producer, with five winners. A trio of the mare’s winners are sired by Tellitlikeitis.

“We’ve had a lot of success with Tellitlikeitis,” Dobrowolski said.

SS Lover would have been bred back to the sire during the 2023 breeding season, but his book was already full when the mare was ready. Instead, she was matched with Breeders Crown champion Freaky Feet Pete. The foal, Freaky Lover, showed personality early at the farm.

“Dessa was telling me he was kind of feisty as a baby,” he said, noting the pacer was gelded as a result. “And now he’s just a big sweetie. I mean, you go up to him, he’s not mean or anything. He likes to get his scratches and his lovins. He is such a good boy.”

SS Lover’s latest foal will face his toughest test Friday, and the opportunity reminded Dobrowolski of an early conversation with his partner.

“Zach told me when I was first starting out with him, he said, ‘You know, Ed, you need a sire stakes horse,’” Dobrowolski said. “And I thought, ‘Well, how am I going to do that?’”

But here he is, with a Super Final entrant, not accomplished through buying and campaigning a horse, but instead, breeding one capable of earning his way in through his efforts on the track.

“You could spend 20, 40 grand at the yearling sale, but I think for us it’s something special,” he said. “Seeing that baby, raising it, and then seeing it go to the track, putting all that work and effort into it, seeing how it pays off, it’s really been beneficial. And I’m very grateful to be a part of the team.”