It was just another lazy early spring afternoon at Monticello Raceway with 10 races carded and nothing unusual happening until lightning struck. Not literally, the lightning referred to was that a once in a lifetime thing occurred for a father and son who finished in a dead heat for win in the ninth race.

Jimmy Marohn Sr. was driving Quiet Hero (#1) from the pole position while Jimmy Jr. had Best Of Times (#5) from post five.

As the gate sprung, young Jimmy went right for the front and had the lead at the quarter in :29. From there the younger Marohn kept the pedal to the medal and was never seriously challenged until his dad got Quiet Hero in high gear as the field headed from home.

Pop Marohn came charging at his son’s pacer and both horses finished simultaneously at the finish in a final time of 1:59.3.

“I won the St. Paddy Pace with this horse a couple of weeks ago by racing him on the front-end so I thought that I’d race him in front again today and hopefully that would get the job done,” Jimmy Jr. said after the race was completed. “But the old man outfoxed me; he laid back and came charging at the end and so fast that I thought he won the race. I even said to him on the track ‘you got it’ and then I went directly back to the paddock. “

Jimmy Sr. headed to the winner's circle with Quiet Hero for a photograph and it wasn’t until he got there and saw the posted order of finish on the toteboard that he found out that there was a dead heat for win.

And when he got back to the paddock, he was reached for a comment, which he gave with tongue in cheek.

“I even gave him [Jimmy Jr.] a head start, but I got him at the end,” the older Marohn chirped. “And it’s hard to give him an inch and beat him in a horse race, you know."

Then he got serious and added, “We drive together in the same race often here at Monticello and over the years we’ve finished first and second quite a few timesm but a father and son finishing in a dead heat has gotta be a first.”

Quiet Hero is owned by Frank Cuccio of Montgomery, New York and trained by his son Anthony Cuccio while Best Of Times is owned by J & R Class Act Stable of Yonkers, New York and trained by Anthony Regina. The former paid $7.50 for win while the later returned a $9.20 win mutuel.

A father-son dead heat for win is a rare occurrence in the sport of harness racing. One of a more recent account took place at Cal Expo when Luke and Rick Plano dead heated for the win twice within a four-week span in 2005.

(With files from Monticello Raceway)