By
john manzi for NAADA
Although
the sun was shining brightly but the gusting winds kept the temperature in the
mid-20’s at Monticello Raceway on Thursday afternoon (2-18), still the racing
surface was in good shape for the two divisions of the trotting series
sponsored by the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) . And when
the judges posted the winners, Bobby Krivelin and David Yarock each emerged
victorious in their respective splits.
Krivelin
moved to the top of the series leaderboard after he scored a come-from-behind
victory with his Current Crisis in a time of 2:00.3. It marked Krivelin’s
second victory the five currently contested legs.
Content
to stalk the pace-setter, AJ Destiny driven by Bob Hechkoff, Krivelin followed
the leader all the way until the homestretch at which point he moved Current
Crisis off the pylons and they rallied to a neck victory. Windsun Galliano
finished a neck behind AJ Destiny to garner the show dough for Peter Kleinhans.
“He’s
an honest race horse and we had a good trip,” Krivelin related after his
victory. “We were getting a good trip so I waited until we straightened for
home to challenge Hechkoff and when I pulled
Current Crisis I knew he’d go on to win it.”
It
was the 27th career victory for the former Maine colt trotting
champion who is now owned by Krivelin’s, Hero Stable. Current Crisis paid $6.10
for win.
And
for Krivelin, who has been competing regularly in amateur races since 1996, it
was his 186th driving victory.
Dave
Yarock won the second division with Nautilus De Vie in a 2:02.3 clocking.
Sent
off at odds of over 4-1 Yarock sent the 6-year-old altered son of Credit Winner
to the lead when the gate sprung and the duo was more than content to cut all
the fractions.
Despite
the betting favorite, Just Like Lloyd (Robert Kenny), falling into the two hole
on the first turn Yarock and his charge proceeded undauntedly on the front-end
and they had two lengths on Kenny’s trotter as the field headed for home. In
the lane Just Like Lloyd began to gain on Nautilus De Vie but they ran out of
racetrack and had to settle for second money a head behind the winner. Cassa’s
Image finished third for Bobby Krivelin.
“I
really thought we were the best before the race and I drove him like he was the
best," Yarock said. "And he was,”
.
“Junior
(Jimmy Doherty Jr.-the horse’s trainer) has worked real hard to make sure he
was at the top of his game and he deserves a lot of credit.”
Owned
by his driver, it was the first seasonal triumph for Nautilus De Vie who
returned $10.80 for win. For Yarock it marked his 55th amateur
driving victory.
Now
with 28 points Yarock is fourth on the leaderboard which is currently at the
halfway point of the three- month series.
