The ninth leg of the NAADA spring trotting series went to post Thursday afternoon at Monticello Raceway, and when the judges hung the official sign Bob Hechkoff emerged victorious with Alternat Thursdays.
The margin of victory for Alternat Thursdays was two lengths over Swift Blizzard and Paul Minore in a time of 2:00.3. Joe Lee finished third with Laser Lucy.
When the wings of the mobile gate folded Minore hustled Swift Blizzard toward the lead from post five but they didn’t gain command until Alan Schwartz, driving Typical Newyorker, grabbed leather and allowed Minore command just before the quarter mile timer flashed up in :29.3. At that point the eventual winner was third along the pylons some three lengths behind the leader.
Once on top Minore kept his trotter moving forward but as the field headed to the half Hechkoff moved off the pylons to challenge as the field passed the halfway point in 1:00.3.However, Minore wasn’t about to yield command and Swift Blizzard and Alternat Thursdays raced as a team by the three quarters in 1:30.1.
The leaders were still side by side around the paddock turn and when they straightened for home Alternat Thursdays was the strong horse and refused to lose. Swift Blizzard faded but held second place and Laser Lucy was strong enough to rebuff Typical Newyork for the show dough.
“He’s a handful before the race and a handful after a race but once he’s behind the gate you can drive him with two fingers,” said Hechkoff. “But he’s really not my kind of horse because he doesn’t leave the gate quickly and I like a horse that can grab the racetrack. Still he’s got class and is always on gait.”
Despite going into the race with no wins in 21 starts, Alternat Thursdays had amassed almost $25,000 on the strength of six seconds and one third.
In what turned out to be a wide open contest where six trotters went off at odds of 5-1 or less, Alternat Thursdays was the weak favourite at 1.95-1 and returned a $5.90 win mutuel.
The winner is owned by Hechkoff’s R B H Ventures and trained by Kyle Spagnola. It was the first seasonal win for Alternat Thursdays and the 10th this year for Hechkoff.
(NAADA)