Two $8,000 non-betting trotting divisions for amateur drivers were presented tonight at Yonkers Raceway prior to the betting card getting underway and when the judges posted the results Tony Verruso had reined the winner in the first split and Dave Offenberg won the second.
Verruso, who's enjoying his finest year in the sulky, went wire to wire for a 1:58.1 triumph with Exarch in the first split while Offenberg aped that journey behind Fiji for a 1:59.1 triumph in the other.
Both races were presented prior to the betting card getting underway
In his split Verruso sent Exarch immediately to the lead and they had two lengths on a parked-out Raceace(Alan Schwartz) when they trotted by the first quarter in :28.3. Still on the limb the order remained the same when the trotters passed the half in :58.4.
“I think Schwartz was trying to keep his horse trotting since he had made brakes in his previous starts,” Verruso said. “But he kept coming at me past the three quarters in 1:27.4 and all the way around the far turn and into the stretch.”
And when they turned for home Tony Ciuffetelli rushed Golden Kronos into contention and all three trotters headed for paydirt nearly side-by- side. But in the deep stretch Exarch proved to be the best and trotted off to a solid one-length triumph in 1:58.1. Raceace hung on for second money, a head better than Golden Kronos.
The winner, a six-year-old Cantab Hall gelding, is owned by Fortune Valley Stable ad trained by Sean Campbell. For Verruso, it was his sixth driving victory of the season and 88th of his amateur career.
Dave Offenberg had little trouble in the other division after he sent Fiji to the lead when the wings of the starting gate folded. Once on top Offenberg put it in cruise-control and Fiji trotted through fractions of :29, :59.4: and 1:28.2 before drawing off to an easy victory over Possess The Stone who was driven by Joe Faraldo. Third money in the short four-horse field was garnered by Stealing (Matt Zuccarello).
The winner, an eight-year-old Cantab Hall gelding is owned by Offenberg's Allister Stables LLC and trained by Noel Daley.
(NAADA)