by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway
Monticello, NY — Dominic Macedonio was a longtime horseman at Monticello Raceway and he had been participating here since the early 1960s. Upon his passing last year the raceway named a pacing series in his honor and on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 5) the first leg of the series was contested with Hallin Gator turning in the fastest time of the five splits in which three were for horses and geldings and two for fillies and mares.
Kyle DiBenedetto handled the driving chores behind Hallin Gator for trainer Gary Campbell and he used the front-end route to score a 1:59.4 victory with the 5-year-old Royal Art gelding. But that triumph was in doubt in the final sixteenth of the mile when hard charging Doug’s Boy rambled alongside the leader and they raced head to head in the final strides with Hallin Gator prevailing by a neck.
Geri Schwarz photo
Mike Forte gets Imposter A (#2) home first for career win number 2,997.
Perhaps more importantly — especially for Mike Forte — was that he won a leg with Imposter A in 2:00.1 in another split which was exclusively for horses and geldings. As a result of that victory, Forte draws ever closer to the 3,000 career win plateau and now with 2,997 driving victories the veteran reinsman is just three wins away from a personal milestone.
The third split for the “boys” was copped by Optimist in a time of 2:00.1. Brandon Simpson drove for trainer Elisha Lafreniere and for the 13-year-old Armbro Operative gelding it marked his fourth consecutive victory and eighth in his last nine starts.
Alan Schwartz won the first of the two divisions for the ladies when he guided Space Chalet to a 2:01.1 triumph over Isn’t She Lovely and Kyle DiBenedetto.
And the last of the five Macedonio Series divisions saw Peter Lutman III hustle Early Morning down the lightning lane to overtake Bruce Aldrich, Jr. and Classy Ivory for a 2:02 victory.
The Macedonio Pacing Series will continue on consecutive Thursdays through Jan. 19 with the series finale slated for Jan. 26, also a Thursday.