Although it took longer than anticipated to present the eight legs of Monticello Raceway’s 2013 Heritage Drivers Series, the sixth edition of the Maple Leaf Mile will head to post Wednesday, November 20.
The eighth and final preliminary leg of the ‘Mighty M’s event for drivers of different ethnicities will feature those of Canadian extraction. The winner of the Maple Leaf Mile will be eligible to participate in the series finale – the All-America Cup, on Wednesday, December 18.
The Maple Leaf Mile was a trotting event last year and was won by Jimmy Devaux and the Canadian-owned Gate Keeper in 2:02.4. The race will be for pacers this year.
As luck would have it, Devaux has drawn the morning-line favourite for Wednesday’s contest. He’ll handle Jack and Rose Deluca’s JBs ATM (5-2) from Post 2.
The Godeffroy, New York resident is a former Monticello Raceway driving champion that has recorded 3.409 career driving victories. Devaux has reined 358 winners this year, which ranks him 21st on the North American leaderboard.
Although he is scheduled to steer the early favourite, Wednesday’s test will not be a cakewalk for Devaux.
Mighty M newcomers Aaron Byron and Jason Ryan will be formidable foes. The former will guide Mark and Phyllis Liebowitz’s Integrity (9-2) from Post 3, while the latter will be up behind Most Happy Stables’ Whata Rock (5-1) and will start from Post 5.
Other drivers of Canadian heritage that will be participating in the race include Peter Lutman III, Keith Haase, Truman Gale, Jacques Primeau and Mike Doherty.
Ronnie Wrenn Jr., the leading driver in North America that was heralded to be among the drivers for the race, told Monticello on Monday that he would not be able to participate in the event.
The Maple Leaf Mile has been carded as Race 7 on Monticello’s 13-race program. First-race post time will be at 12:25 p.m. The approximate time of the Maple Leaf Mile is 2:05 p.m.
(Monticello)
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