By
john manzi for NAADA
Hannah
Miller sat a pocket and waited until the long homestretch to send Rev It Now to
a 2:00.4 victory in her division of the North American Amateur Drivers
Association’s trotting series sixth leg presented at Yonkers Raceway on
Thursday, April 16. And although Alan Schwartz used an overland journey from the
half with Bad I Am he sparked similar results in their 2:00.3 triumph.
For
Ms. Miller it marked her third consecutive victory in the NAADA series after
having been victorious at Monticello Raceway and Freehold Raceway in previous
weeks.
In
her $6000 non-wagering split, Miller appeared to have the best trotter in the
race and like she has done often this season, she gave Rev It Now a
picture-prefect drive. She waited patiently in a pocket until the homestretch
at which point she urged her trotter to overtake the pace-setter, Gimme The
Loot, driven Joe Faraldo, and then hold off a late charge by Tony Verruso with
Sam’s Honeybee.
At
the wire Rev It Now was a solid one-length winner over Sam’s Honeybee who
photo-ed out Gimme The Loot for the place money.
The
9-year old altered son of Revenue S is owned by Miller, her boyfriend, Nick
Surick and her dad, Erv Miller.
Schwartz,
too, has been hot-handed of late with three wins in his last five starts. The
68 year old former Marine, is also one of the sport’s top amateur
drivers,currently with 580 career wins.
In
his division Schwartz left softly from the four-hole and as the field neared
the halfway point he had Bad I Am out following the cover on the limb provided
by Steve Oldford with Starsaboveallerage.
Oldford’s
trotter cleared the pace-setter, Tagmaster (Bob Hechkoff), before the final
turn and then braced for Schwartz with Bad I Am. Starsaboveallerage was
determined by Bad I Am wore him down in the final strides to score a head
victory. SF Ciro with Matt Zuccurello at the lines, finished third, some 4
lengths behind the top two.
For
Bad I Am, it marked the trotter’s fourth win in his last five starts. The 4
year old Prayer I Am gelding, is owned by his driver.
Still
the buzz is all about Hannah Miller. Not since Jordan Stratton displayed his
talents in the amateur ranks has anyone opened the eyes of the railbirds as
does Miller. The 23 year old female phenom now has won four of her last
five starts and she will be counted on the bolster the United States team in
the upcoming U.S.A- French Amateur Competition which gets underway on Tuesday,
April 21 at Yonkers Raceway.
For
that matter so will Schwartz who has driven successfully in amateur
competitions in many of the European countries, as well as Canada and New
Zealand.
