by John Manzi, for the NAADA

Monticello, NY — Hannah does it again. The talented 23-year-old-miss won her $6,000 division of the North American Amateur Drivers Series at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday, May 7. The daughter of top trainer Erv Miller, scored behind the veteran Rev It Now in a time of 1:59.3 which was the fifth time this season that Miller reined the veteran trotter to victory. Bob Hechkoff copped the other split with Tagmaster in 2:02.3

But the real story is Hannah Miller. She keeps beating the boys with regularity. This was her third consecutive driving victory and fourth in her last six outings. A threat every time she gets on a sulky Ms. Miller now has 10 wins in 25 starts this season. And with five seconds and one third she has a lofty .504 UDR.

Perhaps the short field in the Yonkers Raceway non-wagering event dictated racing strategy but Miller, who always sits cool and collective in the bike, was perfectly content to allow Starsaboveallerage and driver Steve Oldford to take command on the first turn.

Oldford passed the first stanza in a soft :30 but he kept his trotter going and he and Miller were one-two by the half in 1:00.2. Content to let Oldford show the way Miller sat cool and followed Starsaboveallerage around the final turn and then she aimed her trotter down the passing lane and Rev It Now rallied to a head victory. One length back in third place was Bad I Am with Alan Schwartz.

“Since Steve (Oldford with Starsaboveallerage) didn’t try to back up the second quarter my horse was real comfortable following him”, Miller said. “At the top of the stretch I asked him (Rev It Now) for more because he gets a bit lazy sometimes. We caught Steve’s horse by mid-stretch and although it was close at the finish my horse had won it.”

Asked if she plans on becoming a professional driver Miller chuckled and said; “No, I’m having too much fun in the amateurs.”

She then added proudly,” I just got my ‘A’ (full) license.”

With another short field in the second $6,000 split there wasn’t much early action in the race. Tagmaster and Bob Hechkoff cut the mile and were followed by Bellagio Hanover (Joe Faraldo) and Sam’s Honeybee (Tony Verruso).

The order was the same around the track until the top of the stretch when Bellagio Hanover rallied from three lengths back and got the announcer’s last call which was enough to make driver Joe Faraldo feel quite sure that he had been victorious.

However, after the judges checked the tight three-horse photo they determined that the pace-setter Tagmaster, and driver Bob Hechkoff were first under the wire. Faraldo was second by half-a-head and Tony Verruso, with Sam’s Honeybee, was third, just a head behind the first two finishers.

The NAADA Series $15,000 Final will be contested next Thursday (May 14) again at Yonkers Raceway.