by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Looks are deceiving. Case in point, the dead-heat victory in the 12th race Tuesday (Jan. 8) at Monticello Raceway.

Geri Schwarz photo

Hi Sir (#2) and Distinct Color (#4) finished in a dead-heat on Tuesday.

At a glance it appears that the number two horse, Hi Sir and driver Stephane Bouchard, were at least a half-length winner. But in reality the horse on the far outside Distinct Color (four), with Rick Dane aboard, got up in the final strides to dead-heat Hi Sir in a time of 1:58.

In that contest, down along the pylons, was third place finisher Get Ready To Rumba (one), driven by Jimmy Marohn, Jr. They were individually timed in 1:58, with only a head separating them from the tied winners. Although the photo angle is deceiving, that finish was the closest thing to a triple dead-heat for win ever at Monticello Raceway.

And incidentally, in that contest Get Ready To Rumba’s five race win streak came to an end.

Hi Sir is owned by Tyler Buter of Middleton, N.Y., while the Rock N Roll Stable of Chicago, Ill., owns Distinct Color. The former paid $2.60 for win and the latter returned a $5.30 win payoff.

There was a time at the Mighty M, and not too long ago, when that 1:58 pacing dead-heat would have been a track record. However, in 2007 pacers Lislea Phia and Hannah’s Delight finished simultaneously in a time of 1:54.3 which is the current standard which erased the old dead-heat record of 1:58.1.

The world record for a dead-heat for pacers on a half-mile track is 1:52.2 set at Yonkers Raceway by Rain Train (Stephane Bouchard) and Winfall Nasty (Jeff Gregory).

And only 25 triple dead-heats have been recorded in harness racing history with the first at Freehold Raceway’s half-mile track on Oct. 3, 1953, in a time of 2:12.3. The latest came over the five-eighths-mile oval at The Meadows on March 24, 2009, when three pacers hit the wire simultaneously in 1:53.4.