The Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association (GLADA) will host Spain’s finest amateur drivers as the “friendship series” of events continues with Ohio playing the host role after a similar competition in Spain just weeks ago.
GLADA spokesman Larry Ferrari has announced that the first of three “friendship series” events will help kick off Little Brown Jug week in Delaware, Ohio on Sunday, Sept. 17 with action continuing at Northfield Park on Monday, Sept. 18.
The third and final event will take place on Little Brown Jug day, itself, Sept. 21.
Ferrari, no stranger to the winner’s circle himself with 376 lifetime wins, won the Centennial Amateur Driving Championship in 2022 in Italy, which was contested at tracks in Rome, Torino and Florence.
Lamenting about the competition upcoming, Ferrari said, “There are those who don’t realize that harness racing is not only a North American sport, but a world-wide sport with competition stretching as far as Australia and New Zealand on the south and all over Europe, like Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain and Russia, to name a handful.
“It spreads goodwill all over the world and gives all of the amateur clubs an opportunity to spread the gospel about our great sport and help countless charitable organizations from Standardbred aftercare organizations to horses giving therapeutic assistance to ‘children of all ages.’”
Sunday’s GLADA action actually kicks off the Little Brown Jug week with the opening race — one of three events on the card for amateur drivers, including the Fouts Memorial Standardbred Driving Championship.
Sunday action includes a trio of races and includes appearances by Spanish drivers Vicente Mata, Jose Rotger and Jaime Riera Bassa.
While Mata and Rotger are seeking their first win on American soil, Riera Bassa has had 18 starts here and has a very respectable 5-2-3 scorecard with victories at Pompano Park, Tioga Downs and Yonkers Raceway.
Spaniard Santiago Roig will join his teammates on Monday at Northfield and makes his first appearance in the U.S.A. since 2010, when he competed at Monticello Raceway and Colonial Downs and hit the board on two of three occasions.
Among the GLADA members competing in the competition are Steve Oldford, Sherif Cunmulaj, Lauren Harmon, Devan Miller and Zachery Highers, among others.
The Monday program at Northfield will have two GLADA events in the Spanish-American Friendship competition.
(GLADA)