by john manzi for NAADA
It's all over except for the
shouting and the visiting Hungary team is making the most noise after Tomas
Tanczer cruised to an easy victory in the final leg of the Friendship
Competition with the North American Amateur Drivers Association and they will
go back home with trophies to prove it.
Tanczer , up behind the
Leave Your Mark, the second choice in the wagering in the 7-horse finale at
Saratoga Raceway on Thursday April 19, wasted no time in taking command and
then went on to a 3-1/4 length victory in a time of 2:00.2 while turning back
Autumn Estelle, driven by NAADA's Tony Ciuffetelli. Another NAADA member, Bob
Davis, took home the show dough with Armbro Hall.
In the entire competition
mounts and post positions were drawn by lot and today's race was no exception.
Tanczer's trotter was the morning line favorite but went off third choice in
the betting. But the talented Hungarian amateur gunned his horse to the lead
and they were never in trouble the entire way.
Sent off at odds of nearly
4-1 Leave Your Mark paid $9.70 for win. The 9-year-old Yankee Glide trotter is
owned by Greg Gardner and trained by Delores Basilone.
According to Alicia
Schwartz, NAADA member and the organization's point keeper, Hungary finished
with 95 some nine better than the NAADA's total of 84.
She explained that because
of late scratches the affected NAADA members gave their drives to the visitors
so although the final score favored Hungary because they actually had more
drives than the host home team.
“But who cares about the
score in these Friendship Competitions,”Ms Schwartz said. “Its the friendship
and camaraderie shared by all the competitors that's most important.“
International amateur racing is a great means for human relations.”
NAADA has a busy schedule
hosting European amateur drivers this year. In coming months the Americans will
also host their counterparts from Spain, Italy and France.
