In his first season at Monticello Raceway last year, one of
Gill’s pupils scored a victory on the final program of the season, which helped
him eke out a training title over Pete Pellegrino, 118-117.And who drove that
winner for Gill, none other than Jimmy Marohn, Jr. whose 271
winners were 15 better than Zeke Parker’s 256 during the 2012
season.
The Marohn, Jr.-Gill combination continues to be a force to
be reckoned with. Yesterday ( June 13), in the pouring rain over a
muddy racetrack, Marohn reined five winners on the card, three of them
trained by Gill.
The three Gill horses that Marohn guided to victory were
Talldarknhandsome (1:59.3) in the first race; Tom Riddle (1:59.4) in the
seventh; and trotter Bell Kat Kabob (2:05.2) in the eighth. All are owned
by Ed Hall and James Hall of Connecticut.
The other winners driven by Marohn included trotter
Big Z Fortune (2:05.2) for trainer Keith Haase and Hardrock Kid, (2:04.2) a
trotter trained by Carl Gillespie.
“I’m lucky to be Danny’s driver of choice because when he
sends out a horse to race you can bet that horse is in top form,” Marohn
said. “He came here last year a relative unknown and then let his actions speak
for him.”
“I appreciate what Jimmy just said but maybe it’s me who is
the lucky one,” Gill countered upon hearing Marohn’s words. “Jimmy is a great
driver and he’s always available to drive my stock. We’ve been pretty good
together, don’t you think?”
This past 4-day week has been a good one for both Marohn and Gill, although they’ve had some good weeks before. Young Jimmy reined 12 winners, of which nine were trained by Gill.
Currently Gill is atop the local training leaderboard with
89 winners, 11 more than runner-up Bob Lounsbury’s , 78. And Marohn’s five
winners keep him a solid second behind Bruce Aldrich, Jr. in the driving ranks.
He trails Aldrich, 172-140.
Asked to describe his five winners yesterday Marohn didn’t
hesitate a moment and said laughingly, I was just tuning up for the Junior
Free For All on Monday (June 17).
