As he reached and surpassed the milestone of 3,500 lifetime winning drives George Napolitano, Jr. was again elevating his game to the top level to become one of the hottest reinsman in South Florida over the past week
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At the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park on the Wednesday, January 27 card, he was in top form again with a driving triple to bring his lifetime total to 3,504 wins in the bike. He reached the 3,500 plateau just two nights earlier with claiming pacer Sphinx K preceding his Wednesday evening wins with claiming pacers Ascot Cognac, Bully McCool N and Conjugal visit.
The milestones actually continue a protracted hot streak for the 43-year-old horseman.
"I'll tell you I've really been leading a charmed life and everything's been going my way for more than a year now," Napolitano said after the Wednesday evening card at the Isle. "You take last fall at Chester, I had programs where I won seven, eight and then 10 races. It's a great life I have right now with splitting time between Chester and Pocono Downs in the Summer, and then being able to pick up this much work throughout the winter in South Florida."
Napolitano surpassed $20 milllon in career purse earnings last year, but underlying that fact is the statistic that he earned a quarter of his lifetime haul in 2009 alone. He's coming off his best personal earnings year ever in which the 421 winners he reined in accounted for a purse haul of just over $5 million.
His recent accomplishments are even more remarkable when the serious racing accident he suffered in December of 2004 is taken into account. In that spill at the Isle he suffered compound spinal fractures although he returned to action much sooner than expected to post 365 driving wins in 2005.
Holloway Wins, Holzman Streak Continues
The January 27 program at the Isle saw yet another trainer vacate the winless column for the 2009-2010 season in South Florida.
Lisa Holloway of West Suffield, CT needed just five starts to notch her first win of the current race meet. She is owner and conditioner of trotter Kota Hill, a nine-year-old Harold Hill-Parfait gelding. He outstepped a field of conditioned rivals in 1:59 as part of a driving triple on the program for Bruce Ranger. Tifn Hanover, with Kevin Sizer up, and R Nite Shift, partnered by Andy Santeramo, followed next under the wire.
On the same program the mounting win streak for trainer Paul Holzman continued as claiming pacer Dontpassdamustard circled three-wide around the final turn to defeat a claiming pace field in 1:56.2 with Anthony Napolitano in the bike. That makes it four straight wins from the Holzman barn dating to last Saturday night when all three of his charges returned for winner's photographs.
(Pompano Park)