By john manzi for NAADA
Guess
what? Hannah Miller won again today. This time she copped the final leg of the
NAADA summer trotting series which was presented at Monticello Raceway on a
muggy Thursday afternoon (July 27). She guided the veteran Pine Tab to a gate
to wire victory in a 1:58.4 clocking and with that triumph she finished with
the highest points total in the eight race event where races were presented at
both Monticello and Yonkers Raceways. And she’ll undoubtedly be the one to beat
in the upcoming $15,000 series finale which is slated to go to post at the
Westchester(NY) oval on August 4.
In
today’s $5000 contest Hannah made easy work of it after sending Pine Tab to the
lead from the six-hole and taking command on the first turn. From there the
talented miss and her trusty steed cruised past the first stanza in:29.3
and they were three lengths to the good as they journeyed by the halfway point
in 1:00 flat.
However,
as Pine Tab approached the three quarters he had company.
As
Hannah explained: “When the gate sprung my horse (Pine Tab) left strong and we
crossed over on the first turn. From there we were on cruise control
until the three quarters when Paul Minore’s trotter (Wygant Prince) joined us
but my guy dug in and he held tough all the way through the lane.”
At
the wire Pine Tab was a 1-1/2 length victor over Wygant Prince. Eight lengths
in the rears in third place was Zorgwijk Impact in rein to Joe Pennacchio.
Trained
by Nick Surick, Pine Tab paid just $3.00 for win. It was the trotter's fourth
seasonal triumph and for Ms Miller her 16th driving victory of the
season to go along with 11 seconds and five thirds for a whopping .466
UDR.
Meanwhile
in Italy, a four-man NAADA team, led by president Joe Faraldo and joined by
Alan Schwartz, Tony Verruso and Tony Ciuffettelli were competing in the
USA-Italy Friendship Competition and as of this writing the American team is on
the short end of the points totals.
