by john manzi for NAADA
Doctor John the Medicine Man
strikes again.... And as in his first driving victory in the NAADA Trotting
Series two weeks ago the veterinarian-horseman and his trusty charge, Here
Comes Numbers, were back in the winners circle at Yonkers Raceway after copping
the fourth leg of the series for amateur drivers.
Two weeks ago Kokinos set
sails with his veteran trotter at the Hilltop oval and made every pole a
winning one en route to a 1:59.3 triumph. Using similar tactics again tonight
the good doctor sent Here Comes Numbers again to the lead and allowed the
veteran trotter to do his thing and the 10 year old altered son of Here Comes
Herbie proved once again too much for his competition winning by a solid length
in a time of 1:59.1 over Traverse Seelster, driven by Tony Ciuffetelli. The
victory tonight was two-fifths of a second faster than the horse's triumph on
March 22nd ,also at Yonkers Raceway.
Last weeks winner in this
NAADA Series, Wygant Prince, was driven to a third place finish by Paul Minore,
a retired high school track coach whose most prominent student was the Olympic
champion, Carl Lewis.
But once again tonight
belonged to Doctor John who notched his 28th career driving victory.
“It's not that hard when you
have the best horse in the field,” Kokinos said. “You just go down the road,
which I did for the second consecutive time with 'Numbers'”.
The winning horse is
co-owned by Patrick Laiso and Jennifer Lappe and trained by Ms Lappe.
The non-wagering event went
for a purse of $6000 and was presented prior to the betting card getting
underway.
Next Thursday the NAADA
Series returns for another leg at Monticello Raceway.
