by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Before the 1-3/4 mile Monticello Marathon the query was ‘will class prevail over the longer distance?’ Not surprisingly, it did.

Pembroke Prayer, the undisputed class of the contest sent off at odds of 1-2, won the 1-3/4 mile trot in world record time on the windy but sunny afternoon of Wednesday, December 16, at Monticello Raceway. Mike Micallef drove the winner to a 6-1/4 length triumph in a time of 3:40 over the half-mile track which erased the former mark of 3:42.4 set a year ago by Lively Moment.

Lively Moment was back to defend her crown and was one of the six trotters entered but unfortunately she made a break on the first turn and though there still was a long way to go she never really got back into the race and finished a well-beaten fifth.

Geri Schwarz photo

Pembroke Prayer won the 1-3/4 mile trot in world record time.

But the afternoon belonged to Pembroke Prayer and Mike Micallef. The diminutive driver sent his trotter to the lead when the gate folded and they led to the quarter in :32.4 at which point Jordan Stratton, driving Dan, took command without much resistance from Micallef, who then settled back in behind the leader for a two-hole trip.

The two trotters were still one-two as they approached the half-mile point but just before they got there Micallef sent Pembroke Prayer back to the lead. The field then raced Indian file past the three-quarters in 1:36.2 with Micallef swinging on Pembroke Prayer. They passed the mile distance in 2:09.3 and 1-1/4 panel in 2:39.3 with Pembroke Prayer still well in command.

The final time around the double oval Jimmy Taggart, Jr. moved Valcyon Days out to challenge and they made a muted run at the leader but Pembroke Prayer trotted away and passed the 1-1/2 mile stanza in 3:08.4 with Micallef still with a tight hold on the reins.

But when they had a quarter-mile left to trot Micallef gave Pembroke Prayer his head and the classy veteran began to open daylight between himself and the rest of the field. They scooted away by four lengths on the final turn and from there only the margin of victory was in doubt.

At the finish Pembroke Prayer had 6-1/4 lengths on Dan, who Stratton had tried to keep as close to Micallef as possible in the two-hole throughout the entire distance. He did a good job until Pembroke Prayer sped away with a quarter-mile to go. Third place went to Valcyon Days.

When director of racing Eric Warner presented the trophy to Micallef he said to him, “You rated him (Pembroke Prayer) great” to which Micallef replied quizzically, “Did I?”

“Not going a long distance like this I really didn’t know how fast or how slow to go but I knew I had the best (in the race) and I wanted to give him every chance to win so I figured I’d go slow when I could and when we needed to speed up I just stepped on the gas,” he added.

Mark Ford, co-owner of the winner with Bill Varney, happened to be on vacation in Italy and he called Warner from near the Leaning Tower of Pisa with hopes to get the results of the race but his time differential was off by an hour or so and he was too early. And no, he didn’t call back again.

Those who wagered on Pembroke Prayer cashed, but received just $3.00, $2.30 and $2.20 across the board.