by John Manzi for the Great Lakes Amateur Drivers Association
Northfield, Ohio--When Daniel Jones thinks
he has the best horse in the race he knows to put him on the front-end and
that's exactly what Jones did in the Great Lakes Amateur Diving Association's
series trot at Northfield Park on Sunday Evening,September 6.
With his charge, The Next Triumph, starting from
the two-hole and being sent away at odds of 3-10, Jones put the pedal to the
metal and gunned the 7-year-old gelded trotter to the front from post two and
refused to relinquish the lead despite a hard challenge from William Rhoades'
Impressive Chief.
At the quarter mile marker Impressive Chief got
first call but unfortunately for him it would be the last one he'd get in the
race as Jones played hard-ball and regained command.
The Next Triumph was en route to just that as the
altered son of Triumphant Caviar turned back all comers and trotted by the half
in:57.2and still had a length lead on his competitors as the three quarter
timer flashed 1:27.
After Jones headed for home he was glad that
Northfield has a short homestretch and The Next Triumph fought gamely all the
way to the wire and held off a hard-charging A Royal Line and driver Larry
Ferrari to notch a neck triumph in the speedy 1:57 mile.
It marked the fifth seasonal victory for the aptly
named The Next Triumphant who's co-owned by Robert Smolko and his trainer, Ron
Steck. Faithful backers received a a $2.60 win payoff.
