by Evan Pattak, for the Meadows

Meadow Lands, PA — Dave Palone drove 11 winners on The Meadows’ 14-race Monday (April 21) card, the most victories ever by a driver on a single pari-mutuel raceway card. Only one other driver, Roger Hammer, has won 11 races on a single card; he accomplished his feat at the York (PA) Fair on September 9, 2003.

USTA photo

Dave Palone had a record setting day on Monday at The Meadows with 11 wins, all in under 2:00.

Palone also set the record for most 2:00 victories on a single card with 11, eclipsing the previous mark of 10 he held jointly with Greg Grismore and Walter Case, Jr. Palone’s seven consecutive wins fell one short of the record in that category held by Stephane Bouchard.

Palone, who ranks third all time in driving wins, had twice before piloted 10 winners on a card. In addition to Grismore and Case, Brett Miller and David Miller have scored 10 victories on a single card.

With the record only one win away, Palone found himself in the final race driving Keystone Swinger, a six-race maiden who was facing a non-winners of two claiming field and thus racing tougher than he had to. Worse, the horse had hit the board only once in those six starts.

“I qualified him as a 2-year-old, and he acted like he had some go,” Palone said. “I made up my mind that I would go down swinging.”

Palone sent the maiden on a quarter-pole move that carried him to the record-setting victory.

Palone took the record in stride, going home to clear weeds from his yard and later joining his wife Bethann at a local hardware store to shop for kitchen counters.

“When I got up around nine wins, I started thinking about the record,” he said. “I kept coming up one short in my head. Keystone Swinger was a pleasant surprise. A couple of the wins were with fresh claims; you never know how they’ll do. Everything has to go right. It was just one of those days.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet. It isn’t like winning a big stake race, but it’s nice to have on your resume.”

Palone scored all his wins for three trainers — his brother Mike Palone (six), Mickey Burke (three) and Randy Bendis (two).

Palone triumphed in the two featured races on the card. In the $39,000 final of the North Strabane Pace for 3-year-old colts and geldings, he needed to use PW Roman Lover twice because of his outside post position. The son of Grinfromeartoear responded with a facile victory in 1:51.1 for Mike Palone and Bulletproof Enterprises. Papa Hemingway was 2-3/4 lengths back in second, with He’s Done It All a distant third. PW Roman Lover won his three series starts by a combined 20 lengths.

In the $20,000 Open/Preferred Handicap Pace, Palone guided Won The West to an unchallenged wire-to-wire score in 1:52.3 in the seasonal debut for the son of Western Hanover. Won The West banked $650,374 at 3 with victories in such stakes as the American-National and Tattersalls. Burke trains Won The West for Strollin Stable, William J. Robinson and James C. Koehler.