Alan Schwartz thrusted to the fore late and Tony Beltrami ascended to a 43-1 victory via disqualification in their respective $18,714 divisions of the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) Trot at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday, Feb. 27.
Schwartz delivered Raceace (pictured above) to an 8-1 win in a 2:00.3 mile in the first NAADA division. Positioned third while Muscle Dan (driven by Tony Ciuffetelli) carved a clip of :28.1, :58.1 and 1:28.4, Schwartz saved his charge for a homestretch blitz and hauled down the outside of the track. He collared Muscle Dan at the beam by a neck to grab the win with All Rise (Tony Beltrami) saving ground to finish third and Hobbs (Victoria Stratton) followed suit in fourth.
Alan Schwartz owns and trains Raceace, a nine-year-old gelding by Yankee Glide. He paid $18.40 to win.
Early interference by 7-5 favourite Itsoneofthose (Andrew Adamczyk) dropped the first-place finisher from the throne and put Tony Beltrami and Drop The Mic in the winner’s circle off a 2:01.4 effort.
Louis (Jacob Stillwell) charged quickest off the wings from post eight and crossed to the lead as Itsoneofthose pushed forward to the outside of Never Mind N (Bob Hechkoff). Itsoneofthose veered inward through the first turn and made Never Mind N go offstride heading for the backside. Adamczyk sent Itsoneofthose forward to take the lead from Louis before a :30 first quarter and he coasted through the remainder, posting a 1:01.3 half and three-quarters in 1:31.3. He crossed the line in front by 1-3/4 lengths, but was placed seventh for the interference in the first turn. Pocket-sitter Drop The Mic elevated to the win over Hunters Gal (Yogi Sheridan) in second with 77-1 show Limerance (Dawn Anderson) taking third and Defcon Seelster (Bruce Baker) finishing fourth.
Paul Fusco trains Drop The Mic, a seven-year-old gelding by Chapter Seven, for owner Robert Arzano. He paid $89 to win.
The NAADA Winter Series heads to the $20,000 final on Thursday, March 6 at Yonkers Raceway. First-race post time is 7 p.m. (EST).
(NAADA)