by John Manzi, for the NAADA

Monticello, NY — The fifth and final preliminary leg of the North American Amateur Drivers Association’s two-track trotting series will go to post on Thursday afternoon (April 28) at Monticello Raceway. Eight trotters will line-up behind the mobile starting gate and compete in race eight on the 12-race card.

Series point leader Bob Krivelin will handle the favorite in Ace High Hall, a trotter he co-owns with Henry Wieseneck. Kriveln and Ace High Hall were winners in the previous series leg at Yonkers Raceway last Thursday and they look to repeat.

Main threats loom in the presence of Biggerthebetter and Winterleebrook. The former, with Dave Yarock aboard, will leave from the three hole while the latter, with 17-year-old Joe Bongiorno at the helm, will start from post five.

Not to be counted out is Double Strength who won a leg in 2:01.3 at Yonkers Raceway on April 4. Dave Offenberg will again handle the driving chores but he’ll have to overcome starting from the outside in post position six.

All the drivers are looking to add to their point totals and the top eight will then be eligible to compete in the $12,000 final at Yonkers Raceway in early May. However, prior to the final preliminary the current top five are almost assured a berth in the finale.

The current leaderboard is as follows: Bob Krivelin’s 25 leads while Alan Schwartz and Dave Yarock are runners-up with 17 points. Bob Hechkoff has 15 and Dave Offenberg 14. They are followed by Joe Faraldo (9), Dave Ehrenberg II (9), Joe Bongiorno (8), Gerry Fielding (7), Laura MacNamara (6) and Eric Taddeo and Peter Gerry (4). However, Faraldo, MacNamara, Taddeo and Gerry do not have a drive on Thursday and cannot add any more points to their totals.

First post will be at 12:50 p.m.