Monticello, NY — Joe Lee came out on top of a heated battle to win with 2-5 favorite Woodside Genius in the $7,500 North American Amateur Drivers Association trot at Monticello Raceway on Wednesday (May 21).
Leaving from post three, Lee pushed forward with Woodside Genius but yielded control past a :29 first quarter to Draco S (Victoria Stratton). He stayed in the pocket to a :58.4 half and moved to attack up the backstretch.
Woodside Genius and Draco S hooked into battle marching to three-quarters in 1:28.3 and remained embroiled through the final turn and into the stretch. Lee managed to surge to the front in the lock-step battle at the right time and won by a nose in a 1:59.4 mile while Draco S settled for second. Psalmsfortysixfive (Scott Keppler) swarmed forward late for third.
Gary Messenger trains Woodside Genius, a 5-year-old gelding by Dover Dan, for owners Brenda Messenger and Scott Woogen. He paid $2.80 to win.
With the 10 preliminaries in the books, the NAADA Spring Fling Series will go to final at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday (June 5). A consolation is slated for the week after at Monticello Raceway on Wednesday (June 11). First-race post time at Yonkers is 6:45 p.m. (EDT).