by David Krepow for The American Harness Drivers Club

Cherry Hill, NJ – Manhattan, New York’s Bob Hechkoff knew that if he was to have any hope of winning this year’s edition of the American Harness Drivers Club’s $5,000 Fall Pacing Series Final, he was going to have to overcome the misfortune of drawing post position ten. However, Hechkoff made the outside position seem to only be a minor inconvenience as he steered his own Conquiestdonor to an easy, three and three quarter length victory on a soggy Friday, December 22 at The Meadowlands. Time of the mile was a flat 2:00 over a good track.

This is the second AHDC series championship for the veteran amateur teamster, who by day, presides over Hechkoff Executive Search Inc., a New York-based recruiting firm. Hechkoff had entered the race as the defending champion of the 2005 fall series final.

As the race unfolded, Hechkoff patiently waited for his competition to come back to him. Joe Froelich, guiding his own Greenmeansgo and Dr. Sam Sbarra with Shoot The Artist had broken away from the rest of the pack, setting opening fractions of 28.3 and 58.3 in the process.

Comfortably sitting in fourth watching the drama in front of him, Hechkoff tipped the four year old Art’s Conquest gelding to the outside just beyond the half mile mark and brushed up to join the leaders. Approaching the three-quarter mark, it became apparent that Greenmeansgo and Shoot The Artist were feeling the effects of their aggressive opening half mile. Hechkoff easily pushed Conquiestdonor into the lead as they turned into the lane to begin the long march down the Meadowlands home stretch. With their mounts having nothing left in the tank, both Froelich and Sbarra could do little to challenge, allowing Hechkoff to pull away.

Carmen Ciccone with Emissary N and club President Bernie Boland with Know Stones began mild rallies as the wire came within site. But it was Hechkoff’s night as Conquiestdonor was in top form and easily held off the late challenges while rolling to the championship three and three-quarter lengths to the good, stopping the timer in a flat 2:00. Ciccone and Emissary N held on for a second-place finish while Boland finished third with Know Stones.

Others competing were Neil Goldstein and Great Escape, John Regina with Rock on Holmes N, Poker Oak and John Dahlgren; Antique Collector with Israel Galarza, BJ’s Zephyr steered by Dr. Karyn Malinowski, Froelich and Greenmeansgo and Sbarra with Shoot The Artist.

With the victory, Hechkoff finishes the fall series with 54 points, which includes a bonus for winning the series final. For all of the drivers that competed in the 2006 fall series, their points will carry over to the 2007 Spring Pacing Series. They will then become a part of the formula used to determine the club’s representative for the Tim Fouts Memorial Amateur Championship, held annually during Little Brown Jug week in Delaware, Ohio.

The American Harness Drivers Club will return with the 2007 Spring Pacing Series in March as well as the new 2007 Spring Trotting Series for ‘A’ and ‘P’ level drivers in February. In the meantime, keep up with all of the news through the winter months by visiting our website at http://home.comcast.net/~ahdc/ahdc.html.