Nothing odd there you say? Well take this into account:
Oldford left his home in Michigan at 4a.m to make 6am flight
directly to Newburgh, NY where his trainer Alan Sisco picked him up
and shuttled him to Monticello Raceway, some 40 minutes away.
And the inconvenience of the excessive travel
was certainly worthwhile when Oldford won the NAADA Trot with his Oliver Kiss.
Asked why he did what he did Oldford smiled, shrugged his
shoulders and said:“What’s the big deal. I fly all over in my business. Just
last week I traveled through much of Mexico selling my products and I
have so many frequent flyer miles so to fly from Detroit to Monticello to
drive in an amateur race is no big deal to me. Now I’ve got to catch a
plane back to Detroit at 5pm.”
Although Oldford returned with the trophy his victory
included some luck. Sitting third along the pylons as the field turned for home
Oldford got lucky when a racing infraction disqualified Mandinga ,the first
horse under the wire in a 2:04.2 clocking.
The DQ of Mandingo, driven by Alan Schwartz, allowed for
Oliver Kiss and Oldford to be placed first. Guiding Light and Dave Yarock were
placed second and Ace High Hall and Bobby Krivelin—the horse Schwartz’s trotter
interfered with—was placed third.
“Hey, call me whatever you want,” a smiling Steve Oldford
said after the race. “ I’m addicted to amateur racing and I admit it!”
Oldford owns Oliver Kiss who paid $13.40 for win.
3RD LEG OF B’S
STARTREK TROTTING SERIES CONTESTED
Also on February 21 the final two preliminary legs of the
B’s Startrek Trotting Series were contested with Distinct Victory and Digital
Photo each emerging victorious in their respective divisions.
Jimmy Devaux, up behind Al Annunziata’s, Distinct Victory,
benefitted from a near picture-perfect trip coasting along in second position
until the top of the stretch and then rallying down the passing lane to turn
back Mr. Lucky Luciano (Cory Stratton) and Strongbow (Jimmy Taggart, Jr.) in a
2:03.clocking.
Sent off as second choice in the nine-horse field Digital
Photo paid $7.40 for win.
In the second division Greg Merton and Digital Photo
stalked the odds-on favorite Mystical Heiress and Bruce Aldrich,
Jr. from the halfway point and in the lane when it appeared that Mystical
Heiress’s three-length lead would hold up she tired badly in the
last 100 yards and Digital Photo got up in the final strides to emerge
victorious by just a nose in a time of 2:02.3. Iroquouindianmagic took
home the show dough for Alan Schwartz.
Owned by Ruth and Jerry Calcagni Digital Photo also turned
back eight others and returned a $11.80 win payoff.
Next Thursday the eight top point earners in the
B’s Startrek Trotting Series will be eligible for the series finale
