Harness racing’s greatest travelling roadshow, the CKG Billings Amateur Driving Series, moved to Ontario these past two days with a race at Flamboro Downs on Sunday (September13) and two at Mohawk Racetrack on Monday (September 14).
A different winner emerged in each event – ‘Bullet Bob’ Davis and ‘Racin Jason’ Sgrignuoli at Mohawk and Bobby ‘Rapid Rail’ Krivelin at Flamboro.
It marked the second time in the last three weeks at contingents of Billings members travelled north of the border to Canada to compete. And for some it meant long rides in automobiles to get to their venues.
Take Bob Davis, for instance. He travelled seven hours one way from his home in Saratoga Springs to race at Flamboro and Mohawk. And by his own admission he drove 15 hours one way to race on Prince Edward Island on August 30.
However, Davis’ travelling these past few days wasn’t in vain. He won a decisive 1:58.4 victory with Blush And Crush at Mohawk on Monday night. “And I finished third with a 55-1 shot from the eight hole at Flamboro on Sunday,” Davis interjected.
But the cream rose to the top Monday at Mohawk when, despite being told to keep his trotter off the gate, Davis gunned Blush And Crush to the lead and played ‘catch me if you can.’
“Surprisingly I got away with soft fractions of :30 and 1:01.3,” Davis said from his car on his way home to Saratoga last night. “And when I pulled the (ear) plugs after the half my horse opened a three-length lead and we coasted home an easy winner.”
‘Hurricane Hannah’ Miller, whose mounts seems to take money in the wagering pools no matter where she races, finished second with the favoured Utopia. Third place went to Excuse Me Please, driven by ‘Racin’ Jason’ Sgrignuoli.
Blush And Crush, owned by Leo Racicot, paid $6.80 for win.
Despite getting home at 3 a.m., Davis made it to work at his home improvement business later that morning.
Sgrignuoli’s and Davis’ victories were similar, but Sgrignuoli, who drove seven hours from Montreal to compete in the Billings trots in Ontario, had a tougher time gaining command with his trotter, E L Rock in his split.
“I started slowly from the three hole looking for a pocket, but none developed. So I floated to the lead, which Bob Krivelin (who was on the front end) didn’t seem to want to relinquish,” Sgrignouli said. “We finally cleared and once on top we never had any challenges and were home easy winners."
They finished six lengths ahead of Cimeronken and driver Dave ‘Modern Legend’ Drew in the 1:56.1 trotted mile. Kelly ‘Sky’ Walker took home the show dough with Rush N Supreme.
It was Sgrignouli’s fifth drive of the season thus far, and for the master electrician it was his first win in 2015.
Owned by Mark Herlihy and Robert Lovett, E L Rock paid $20.20 for win.
And on Sunday, September 13 at Flamboro, Bobby ‘Rapid Rail’ Krivelin scored a hard fought victory with Empire Strikesback in a time of 2:01 when they held off a fast-closing Blazing Shot, who was driven by ‘Handy Dan’ St. Pierre. Bob Davis finished third with New Favorite.
Owned by Alan Fair, Empire Strikesback returned a $14.90 win mutuel.
Later this week, the Billings Series will return to the U.S. with action at Freehold Raceway on Saturday and at Delaware Ohio on Sunday.
(Billing Series)