by john manzi for NAADA and CADC
Once
again three races for amateur drivers dotted the card at Monticello Raceway on
Thursday (Sept). 14) with two events contested in the North American Amateur
Drivers Association (NAADA) Fall Trotting Series and one in the Catskill
Amateur Drivers Club (CADC) Pacing Series.
Bob
Krivelin, Alan Schwartz and Monica Banca were victorious in their respective
splits. Krivelin and Schwartz each won a NAADA trot while Banca’s victory
came in a CADC pacing even.
With
rain threatening throughout the afternoon Krivelin was the first to reach the
winners circle when he guided Permanent Joy to a come-from-behind victory over
Tony Verruso’s Flirting Duezy in a 1:59.3 clocking over a racetrack rated fast.
When
the field rounded the second turn in that contest Krivelin moved Permanent Joy
to the outside and flushed out Verruso’s trotter for cover as Dave Yarock
showed the way with Mr Ridgetaker. At the head of the lane Yarock’s charge
still had command but yielded as Permanent Joy finished strong and rallied to a
1-1/2 length victory over Flirting Duezy. Jennifer Lappe took home the show
dough with Fox Valley Steffen.
“I
moved (Permanent Joy) early and we had cover until I wheeled him three deep on
the final turn and when I did he trotted by the leaders and was home free,”
Krivelin said of his 9-year-old Trot For Joy gelding.
Dismissed
by the bettors and sent off at odds of over 7-1 Permanent Joy, owned and
trained by Krivelin, paid $16.80. For Krivelin it marked his 210th
career driving victory.
Schwartz’s
triumph with The Fighter came as a result of patience, both before and during
the race.
Hard
to control prior to going behind the starting gate but once there The Fighter
acts almost normal. When the gate sprung Schwartz settled in the two hole
behind Hannah Miller’s Hidden Identity and sat patiently behind her as she led
him all the way to the top of the stretch where he found room in the passing
lane and rallied to a nose victory over a hard charging Brandos Muscle
Man ,driven by Monica Banca. Hidden Identity held on for third.
“I
got lucky in that Hannah (Miller) was strong on the lead all the way to the
stretch. And at that point I sent The Fighter down the passing lane and we won
by the slimmest of margins. But a win is a win ,” Schwartz said smiling.
Owned
by Ed and James Hall and trained by Danny Gill The Fighter returned a
$10.20 win mutuel. For Schwartz it marked his 12th seasonal driving
victory and the 587th of his amateur driving career.
Although
denied victory in the NAADA trot Monica Banca wouldn’t be rebuffed in the CADC
pace when she gunned Fox Valley Leo to the lead and made every pole a winning
one en route to a 1:57.2 triumph Second place went to Artistic Cruiser driven
by Hannah Miller which made ‘all-lady’ exacta. Third place went to Bob
Hechkoff’s Italian Rebel.
“Once
the gate closed he really wanted to go and I had a firm hold on him all the way
to the half,” Banca said of Fox Valley Leo.. “After that I eased up on the
lines and he paced on to an easy three length victory “
Owned
and trained by Rick Dane, Fox Valley Leo scored his 7th
seasonal triumph. For the Norwegian native it marked her sixth driving victory
in just 12 seasonal starts and 20th since she began driving here in
2013.
Amateur
Day at the races began last Thursday at Monticello Raceway and is slated to
continue weekly through November.
