by john manzi for NAADA
The
fourth leg of the North American Amateur Driver’s Association’s Spring Trotting
Series Thursday afternoon (April 13) at Monticello Raceway had plenty of action
not only throughout the mile but especially in the lane as four horses finished
heads apart with just a scant nose separating first and second place. And when
the judges deciphered the extremely tight finish and hung the official sign,
Woody, driven by “Yankee Joe” Lee was declared the winner; a very thin nose
ahead of Sam’s Honeybee, driven by Tony Verruso.
The
finish was so tight that racing room wasn’t plentiful and as the top four
finishers approached the wire, Joe Lee’s sulky hooked Tony Verruso’s but
thankfully, after the finish line the two sulkies got unhooked and the only
problem lied in the judges hands to decipher what happened and were any rules
broken.
As
it turned out the judges determined that Sam’s Honeybee bore out in the
deep stretch which caused the trotting mare’s sulky to hook Woody’s. When the
race results were posted Woody was the winner and Sam’s Honey relegated to
second money. Third place right there, was Sim Brown and driver John Kokinos.
Fortunately
for Lee, Woody, hooked to was sulky, was longer than Sam’s Honeybee’s
hook-up which allowed the former to be in front at the finish despite having
his sulky’s wheel behind Sam’s Honeybee’s.
“We
got away slowly and were far back at the quarter,” Joe Lee said in the paddock
after the judge’s decision was made final. “We were still quite far behind (six
Lengths) at the half but up the backside I moved three-deep and we were making
up ground.
“Woody
was in high gear when we straightened in the stretch and if Tony’s sulky hadn’t
hooked mine we would have been a clear winner.”
No
sooner had Lee finished explaining about his vision of the race than did he
immediately grab his valise and was headed to Yankee Stadium where he is the
assistant locker room manager. (And yes, Lee is on first name basis all the
Yankee ballplayers).
Dismissed
by the betting public and sent off at odds of over 8-1, Woody paid $18.20 for
win. The veteran 7-year-old Glidemaster gelding is owned by Woody Hoblitzell and
trained by Bruce Aldrich, Sr.
It
was the second seasonal victory for Woody and the fourth win this year for
driver Joe Lee.
