Yonkers, NY – Peter Kleinhans pushed uncovered with Big Limo through the first half and held his ground in the closing strides to win the lone $13,100 division of the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) Trot at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday night (Aug. 13).
Leaving from post 6, Kleinhans hustled Big Limo forward in a three-wide firing line through a :28.1 first quarter. Big Limo matched strides with tempo-setter Ima Standup Guy (driven by Joe Faraldo) while three-wide Windsong Pioneer (Tony Beltrami) backed off into a second-over seat while the top pair remained in battle through a :57.1 half. Kleinhans eventually overhauled Ima Standup Guy moving for the backstretch and braced for the attack of 4-5 favorite Pc Free Wheeling (Victoria Stratton). The odds-on chalk plugged towards Big Limo through three-quarters in 1:27.4 and kept grinding after the leader in the last quarter, but Big Limo maintained control until the beam by a neck in a 1:59 mile. Bacardi (Joe Lee) rallied from off cover for third, another six lengths behind, while Ima Standup Guy took fourth.
Veronica Spicer trains Big Limo, a 6-year-old gelding by What The Hill, for owner Peter Kleinhans. He paid $7.66 to win.
Earlier in the week, NAADA welcomed amateur drivers from Italy for a special series of races. Alan Schwartz scored in the lone division at Monticello Raceway on Monday (Aug. 10) with a perfectly timed rally by Jessies Outlawed in a 2:00.4 mile. He collared odds-on favorite Home’n Dry (John Calabrese), who kicked off a pocket trip to take second by a head, with longshot Draco S (Joe Lee) taking third and tempo-setter King Jimmy (Roberto Michelotto) tiring to fourth.
The Italians got on the board in the first of two $20,000 races at Yonkers Raceway on Tuesday (Aug. 11) when Stefano De Lena went pillar to post in the pacing division with 5-1 shot Last Beach in a 1:56.1 mile. De Lena cut a sensible tempo of :28, :58 and 1:27 in progress to a three-length win with Aladdin (Otello Zorzetto) chasing from a stalking trip in second. Decision Day (Maurizio Biasuzzi), the 6-5 favorite, rallied from off the speed for third while Hurrikanekingjames (Roberto Michelotto) tired from a late first-over push for fourth.
Anthony Verruso won another for the Americans in the other amateur challenge division when making a successful first-up attack with Southwind Banshee to win the trotting dash in a 1:58.2 mile. Verruso lifted his charge heading to the last turn and ground down odds-on chalk I’m Out (John Calabrese) to win by 1-1/4 lengths with pocket-sitter Bo Silas (Paul Minore) giving pursuit for third and Be Different (Roberto Michelotto) following in fourth.
NAADA action resumes next Thursday (Aug. 20) with the 10th preliminary for the club’s summer series. First-race post time at Yonkers is 6:45 p.m. (EDT).