Lucky seven for Southbound Trucker at Monticello

Monticello, NY — Southbound Trucker copped Monticello Raceway’s winners over pace for the seventh time this season on Tuesday and the 6-year-old Sharky Spur gelding is making a big run for Horse of the Year honors here.

After completely dominating the best pacers on the grounds for the first four months of the season the Mighty M’s director of racing Eric Warner unfortunately had to ask the pacer’s trainer Art Stamatien to race his horse out of town for a month or so because he didn’t have enough good horses to competitively race against him.

Despite pacing between 1:52 and 1:53, with only two seconds and a third place finish to show for his efforts in five starts over the five-eighths-mile oval at Tioga Downs, Southbound Trucker returned to Monticello on June 16 and picked up where he left off, scoring a come-from-behind triumph in a 1:56.3 clocking.

After finishing second last week in the Mighty M’s top pace, Southbound Trucker, with his regular driver Greg Merton aboard, sat back in the early going on Tuesday, moving with cover at the half, and in their usual fashion, waiting until the top of the lane to put the pedal to the metal to rally to victory in the rain over a sloppy racetrack.

Ron Cushing and Danger Sign N cut the fractions and led all the way to the deep stretch before being overtaken by Southbound Trucker and The Grand Poopa, who finished second for driver Kyle DiBenedetto.

Owned by George Stamatien, Southbound Trucker, who has never finished worse than third this year at the Mighty M in 12 starts, paid $5.00 for win.

It should also be noted that 42-year-old Kyle DiBenedetto won two races on the Tuesday card and now needs just 23 more for a career milestone of 5,000 driving victories. DiBenedetto, who began his illustrious career here at the Mighty M when he was just 18 years of age, owns two Monticello Raceway driving titles. He won back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998.

— John Manzi