The Panhellenic Stable Corporation's Dink Adoo showed that perseverance and talent will eventually pay off when he captured Saturday's $90,000 Erwin F. Dygert Memorial Trot at Hawthorne Racecourse.
It was the nine-year-old gelding's fourth attempt to win the event, and he passed the test with flying colours thanks to an impressive off-the-pace score over race favourite Before He Cheats. L Ts Best rounded out the top three.
In 2004 Dink Adoo was sixth and in 2005 and 2006 the son of Inquirer finished second, but on Saturday the old trotter put it all together for the hard fought victory.
"He's a closer and he does his best work closing," said driver Mike Oosting. "He's handy enough to drive around traffic and tonight he got the job done."
For a long time in the mile, it didn't look as if Dink Adoo would be any sort of threat. When the wings folded, it was Hoosier Cadillac, teamed with Hall of Famer Dave Magee, who left sharply from his inside perch. His speed forced Self Righteous and previous Dygert champion Dunkster into early tucks. Hoosier Cadillac trotted the opening quarter in 28.1.
It was Before He Cheats and pilot Brandon Simpson who came out just past the quarter and moved sharply at the leader as they reached the half in :56-seconds. By the time they reached the three-quarters in 1:24.2, Before He Cheats assumed command with a host of pursuers on his tail.
L Ts Best was following the favourite and tried to cut into the lead, but Before He Cheats dug in gamely with urging from a left handed stick, and nearly managed to hang on, only to get caught in the final strides by Dink Adoo.
Remarkably, Dink Adoo found racing room among the myriad of horse flesh to somehow make the last-to-first move.
"I didn't think I was gonna get there about a quarter through the lane," explained Oosting. "But then he started passing horses and at the wire he was trotting faster than he ever was. That's his game. He likes to beat up on them when they're tired."
Paul Stafford trains Dink Adoo who, with the win, pushed his lifetime earnings to $772,942.
"He raced so good. Oh he was so tough," said Brandon Simpson, describing the performance of the runner-up, Before He Cheats. "He just wasn't as sharp as he had been, maybe he was only 85%, but he raced big and I was very happy."
(Hawthorne Racecourse)