Racing Roundup: Macho Lindy wins Open Handicap Trot at Pocono
September 22, 2009,from Harness Publicists across North America
Tuesday’s (September 22) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Harrington Raceway, Colonial Downs and Monticello Raceway.
Macho Lindy wins Open Handicap Trot at Pocono
Wilkes Barre, PA — Macho Lindy, assigned the two post based on 2009 earnings and coming back to the races following a four month layoff, captured the $30,000 Open Handicap Trot on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.
Coming off two qualifying races at Harrah’s Chester, Macho Lindy didn’t show any rust in winning the featured trot of the week with Eric Goodell in the sulky.
Leaving quickly from inside, Goodell grabbed the lead and parked Vivid Photo (Roger Hammer) as the two trotters battled for the early lead with the quarter registered in :27.2. The two horses raced side by side to the half, timed in :56.1, with Vivid Photo unable to clear.
Down the backside, Vivid Photo began to fade but Macho Lindy, the 5-year-old gelding trained by Ron Coyne, stayed strong on the front end. The three-quarter mark was timed in 1:25 before Macho Lindy won by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.2. Second in this race was the mare Nicole’s Promise (Tom Jackson) with third place going to Lets Go Baby Go (Greg Grismore).
Macho Lindy smashed the track’s all-time mark for a trotter in June of 2008 when Larry Stalbaum piloted the gelding to a win in 1:52.
— John Zimich
VC Atom N upsets Open field at Harrington
Harrington, DE — Wayne Givens, Bruce Baker and Niel Gargiulo’s VC Atom N ($19, Vince Copeland) was a wire-to-wire, upset winner in Tuesday’s $25,000 Mares Open at Harrington Raceway in 1:53.4.
Fotowon photo
VC Atom N held off Ladyfield in the Mares Open at Harrington.
The Washington VC 5-year-old left from post four and seized control of the race early and never looked back, holding off a late charge from Ladyfield, who finished second. Bet On Luck rode the rail throughout and held third.
For VC Atom N, it was her seventh win of the year for trainer Givens, who also celebrated his birthday Tuesday.
Meanwhile, driver Jim Morand won three races Tuesday to pull within eight wins of 8,000 in his career.
— Matt Sparacino
Driver Chris Page stays hot at Colonial Downs
New Kent, VA — Driver Chris Page, who entered Tuesday’s harness card at Colonial Downs with nine wins in the last two racing programs, scored another four wins during the ten-race card.
Colonial Downs photo
Hi Im Johnny Kash was a 1:52.1 winner for Chris Page.
In the evening’s fifth race, he directed Hi Im Johnny Kash to his second straight victory in the U Gotta Win One Now Pacing Series. Owner/trainer Charlie Dunavant’s 7-year-old Mark Jonathan gelding kicked off the series last week with a dominating 4-3/4 length first leg triumph in a three-quarter-mile dash.
He was up to task in a full mile effort Tuesday, taking advantage of a pocket journey through the race to coast home in a new lifetime mark of 1:52.1.
Hi Im Johnny Kash has two wins and a pair of second place finishes in four Colonial starts this fall. Reinsman Page has directed both wins.
Page’s trio of additional trips to the winner’s circle came aboard Canaco Orville in the first, Yaoza in the fourth, and via an unplanned catch drive aboard Executive Fella in the seventh. The 25-year-old now has 13 wins in the past three cards.
— Darrell Wood
Merton wins five at Monticello
Monticello, NY — As Monticello Raceway heads into its last quarter of the 2009 season one horse that has been a constant from early January is George Stamatien’s Southbound Trucker. The altered son of Sharky Spur won for the ninth time this season on Tuesday with regular driver Greg Merton at the controls.
Also on Tuesday, the vastly improved former $10,000 claimer Bilmar Rustler copped the winners over pace for the second time in three tries and since coming to the Mighty M in early August the 4-year-old Rustler Hanover gelding now has five wins — the others in high priced claimers — in seven starts.
But with his week-in and week-out performances here Southbound Trucker will be awarded Horse of the Year honors at the upcoming Monticello-Goshen Chapter USHWA Awards Banquet on October 25.
Southbound Trucker’s ninth victory on Tuesday was the first one not against the winners over class. Backed down to non-winners of $800 per start the crowd liked Southbound Trucker’s chances so well that they sent him off at odds of 1-4 and the pacer didn’t let his backers down.
Merton sent him to the front on the first turn and even though Upheld and Billy Dobson shadowed the leader throughout the mile Southbound Trucker paced away to a three length triumph over Upheld in a time of 1:57.1.
Zeke Parker drove Elisha Lafreniere’s Bilmar Rustler the same way as Merton drove Southbound Trucker — on the front-end all the way.
Admittedly, Bilmar Rustler faced stiffer competition and his lead was threatened in the deep stretch but with constant urging by Parker, Bilmar Rustler held on for a head decision over a fast-closing Ideal Shuttle with Bruce Aldrich, Jr. aboard.
Trained by Lisa Krom, Bilmar Rustler stopped the timer in 1:57.2 and paid $6.60 for win.
Though Zeke Parker, who will be honored with the writers’ Lifetime Achievement Award at their banquet, won three times it was Greg Merton who was king of the hill on Tuesday with five trips to the winner’s circle.
Besides Southbound Trucker, Greg Merton also won with Jose Godinez’s Just Trouble (1:56.4); Frances Altomare’s Slick Ace (1:59); Greg Decker’s Full Of Heart (1:57) and J & R Cass Act Stables’ JD Big Boy (1:59.2).
— John Manzi