In the East, Tony “the Capo” Verruso emerged victorious at
Vernon Downs while in the Midwest Bob “Lumberman” Troyer won his contest at the
Lake County Fair in Painesville, Ohio.
Of the two victories the easiest-- if it is easy winning a
race-- was in Ohio when “the Lumberman” zipped top the front in a four- horse
trot and cruised to an easy two- length triumph with his own Witch’s Magic Brew
in a 2:06.1 clocking. Larry “Over head Slam” Steenbergen, back in Billings
action after a few years hiatus, guided Miss Tiger Lilly home second
while Dave “Linemaster” Ehrenberg took home the show dough with Swivel
Hips.
However the contest in Vernon, NY wasn’t so easy for “the
Capo” . After starting from post three his trotter Sam’s Honeybee was
left in the dust and by the time Verruso got his charge untracked he found
himself seeing them all, ninth and last, some nine lengths off the lead.
But after they passed the halfway point Verruso got
Sam’s Honeybee in high gear and he just kept feeding him racetrack. They
were still sixth, but three-deep , as they passed the three- quarters and
around the final turn they cleared the road trouble and were in third
position just a length and half off the pace-setter Dusty Diamond,
driven by “Gentleman Jamie” Marra.
As Dusty Diamond headed for home, Sams’ Honeybee rallied as
did Gate Keeper and driver Vladimir “Butch” Melnichenko. The three trotters
were necks apart as they approached the wire and when the photo was taken
it showed that Sam’s Honeybee and Tony Verruso were a neck better than Gate
Keeper in a 1:58.1 clocking. Another short neck back in third place
was Dusty Diamond.
“My horse went a great trip after starting slowly,” Verruso
said. “ When we headed down the stretch it became a real horserace and we all
battled to the finish. My horse turned out to be the strongest in the lane and
at the wire I knew we had won it.”
With his victory Verruso moved closer to the top on the east
region leaderboard now solidly in third place behind Bob “Rapid
Rail” Krivelin and Dacve “Steadt As” Yarock. And Troyer moved up to
third place in the Midwest but still trails Steve “You’re Never too” Oldford
and Mike “the Doo Wop Doc” Caston.
For Troyer it was his fifth win in nine seasonal
drives and win number 68 lifetime while Verruso notched his fourth win of
the season and 44th of his amateur driving career.
