Perhaps one shouldn’t expect the weather to be too nice on
Halloween Day, October 31 and Mother Nature made sure that it
wasn’t at Monticello Raceway and the surrounding area.
Although the day started gloomy by the middle of the
race card the weather turned was downright nasty. Nevertheless, to
paraphrase a Post Office motto, neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of day
could keep Bob Davis from winning the second leg of the NAADA Three Track
Trotting Series with Bullseye Valley in a time of 2:02.4 over the muddy
race course.
On a day where track photographer Geri Schwarz went out of
her way to decorate the winner’s circle with seasonal decor, the weather didn’t
cooperate. Still she exercised her plan to give each winning driver on the
Halloween Day card a bucket of assorted candies, which she alone paid for.
And with his driving victory Bob Davis was no exception. He
got his Halloween treats also.
At the start of the NAADA Trot, last week’s winner,
Impressive Earl, had the pole position and driver Dr. John Kokinos gunned
him to the lead as the winds swirled and the rains fell.
They passed the first two furlongs in :29.4 and had a four
length lead on Bullseye Valley who secured the two hole behind the leader.
Visibility was waning as the field moved toward the half way
point in 1:01.3. Paul Minore was the first to move with Wygant Prince
and they were out and challenging for the lead as they raced up
alongside Impressive Earl . But Kokinos’ trotter rebuffed the challenge
and Impressive Earl had nearly a two length lead at the three
quarters in 1:31.1, as Bullseye Valley wallowed back in fourth position
five lengths off the leader.
Although he had the front-end off the final turn ,
Impressive Earl’s lead began to vanish by mid stretch as Wygant
Prince rallied and appeared to be a winner, that is, until Davis
and Bullseye Valley came out of the fog with a rush to score a head
victory in a 2:02.4 clocking.
“It was tough going out there and I laid back off the lead
up the backstretch trying to see through the flying mud. We were
still back s they headed for home when we found room in the
stretch all I did was aim him and he did the rest,” Davis said about
Bullseye Valley.
There were others besides Davis who were happy with Bullseye
Valley’s victory. Those who wagered on him most certainly were when
Bullseye Valley, a 34-1 shot, paid $70.00 for win. The trotter is owned by
Davia, Vanvalkenburgh and De Gregory and trained by Vernon Beachy.
The NAADA Three-Track Trotting Series continues at
Yonkers Raceway on Thursday, November 7
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