Art Glass, a 7 year old Art Major gelding, scored his 16th
victory of the season stopping the clock in 1:58.1 while stablemate Arts Day, a
10 year old Artsplace gelding, notched his 14th victory of the year
winning in 1:58.2. Both pacers are trained by Pete Pellegrino and were two of
driver Greg Merton’s four winners on the card.
But a closer examination of each of the aforementioned
horses statistics shows that along with his 16 wins, Art Glass also
recorded eight seconds and two thirds in 35 starts. Likewise, Arts
Day’s 14 wins are supplemented by six seconds and three thirds in 31
seasonal outings. The latter has earned $33,636 while the former’s yearly
bankroll is $40,928.
But Pellegrino’s fortunes extend far beyond the pair of the
Art’s abovementioned. Court Jester, who’ll be presented with the Mighty
M’s Horse of the Year honors at the Monticello-Goshen Chapter
USHWA’s 54th annual awards banquet on November 18, has
won 10 time in 20 starts including an unprecedented –at Monticello Raceway—five
consecutive victories in 1:54.3 or faster. He, too, is owned by the Baron
Racing Stable.
“I’ve had about 40 horses in my barn from time to time
this year ,many of different caliber and being stabled in Orange
County gives me access to tracks like Yonkers, the Meadowlands,
,Pocono (Downs)and Freehold where I could race all of my horses
according to their abilities.
“I’ve been racing part of my stable at Monticello this year
and I’ve had good luck with a lot of old veterans that fit well in the claiming
ranks.
“Most of the ones I’ve started here are old
class horses that I’m lucky enough to patch up and get some good mileage out of
them while they are race-horse sound.”
At the current meeting Pellegrino has won an
unbelievable 106 races in just 250 trips to post. Still with about one
third the amount of starts he’s seriously challenging Gary Messenger for
leading trainer honors.
