Just a few days ago, driver Don Sherman celebrated his 50th birthday, and on Saturday, March 16, he got a belated birthday present when moved up a notch after an inquiry to win the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association (GLADA) trot with Son Of Sona at Northfield Park.
Son Of Sona, an eight-year-old son of Dontyouforgetit, sawed through all the fractions -- :29.3, :59 and 1:28.4 -- before being out-sprinted to the wire and finishing second to Kandy Sweet, driven by Larry Ferrari.
But, following a judges inquiry after an incident just prior to the opening quarter, the order of finish was changed, resulting in the “DQ” and making a huge difference in toteboard prices as well.
When the “Official” sign was posted, Son Of Sona, the 7-10 favourite, was on top of the board, followed then by Ohhelpmebaby (27-1), driven by Devan Miller, placed second with Cessna Bride (40-1), handled by Justin Mullett, up a notch to third. Baby Yoda (5-1), with Edward Miller in his sulky, was fifth placed fourth with Back Door Man (23-1) fifth for Floyd Rhodes.
At the outset, Son Of Sona, from post five, left with alacrity as did Kandy Sweet (5-2) alongside from post six and these two squared off in a war during the opening quarter when Kandy Sweet took two bad steps -- the judges determining that many in the rest of the field were bothered as Ohhelpmebaby, Back Door Man and Krisrtysgingergal were all charted with interference and/or breaks.
As things settled down, Cessna Pride began applying pressure to the leader throughout the journey until the top of the lane. It was then that Kandy Sweet found some room to roam and get by the leader late in the mile with the judges determining the missteps enough to cause the order of finish change.
With the second choice in the betting off the toteboard, the $1 trifecta returned $669.20 and the 20-cent pentafecta came back $13,274.78.
Trained by Keith Kash Jr. for Todd Rosenberg, Son Of Sona was awarded his second win of the season in four starts, good for $17,601 in this young season and $184,771 lifetime, primarily on the strength of 26 career wins.
Sherman now has 417 career driving wins -- his first one in 1998 -- with this one rewarding his faithful with a mutuel of $3.40 to win.
(With files from GLADA)