by john manzi for the North American Amateur
Drivers Assoc.
When Joe Faraldo, president of the North American Amateur
Drivers Association, asked his members if they would be willing to race at a
distance of one and quarter miles on Thursday (Oct. 16) in the NAADA Fall
Trotting Series leg at Yonkers Raceway he got appositive response from
everyone.
“I told them that I was asked by management to race at one
and one-quarter miles because with the upcoming global simulcasts to France
they wanted to test the tele-timers and charted lines and the overall
integrity of the tele-timer systems,“ Faraldo related. “And by all measures
everything seemed to be spot-on.”
The first of the two non-wagering NAADA trots on Thursday
saw Hannah Miller get a two-hole trip from the get-go with Rev It Now and then
when the field turned for home, rally the veteran trotter to a two-length
victory over Alaric and driver Shane Darish in a time of 2:32.4 for the 1-1/4
mile contest. Third place went to Rompaway Alvin with Dave Yarock at the
controls.
For the pretty 22-year old lass it was her fifth winning
drive in nine seasonal starts.
Rev It Now is owned by Nick Surick, Hannah Miller and the
Erv Miller Stable, and trained by Nick Surick.
In the second NAADA trot Kelly Walker used the same game
plan as Hannah Miller when he had Rush N Supreme in the two-hole behind
Tagmaster (Bob Hechkoff) until mid-stretch and then trot by the pace-setter to
score a 2-1/4 length victory in a time of 2:31.4. Wygant Prince and Bob Davis
also passed Tagmaster in the lane to garner second money. Hechkoff’s trotter
did, however, take home the show dough.
Rush N Supreme, a 10 year old altered son of SJ’s Caviar,
trained by Bob Baggitt, Jr. is owned by his driver.
“Many of the drivers told me after the race that they
enjoyed racing over the longer distance,” said Faraldo, who himself was a
participant in the second NAADA trot.(He finished fourth with Permanent Joy).
Faraldo, a lawyer by trade is also in president of the SOA
of NY, and he and his organization have been working hand and hand with Tim
Rooney and Yonkers management in making the Global simulcasts to France come to
fruition.
The global simulcasts will begin on Nov. 9 and continue
Sundays through Dec. 14. However, to accommodate the anticipated European
bettors, Yonkers Sunday post times will be at 11AM.
