Northfield, OH — Just a few days ago, driver Don Sherman celebrated his 50th birthday and, Saturday (March 16), Sherman got a belated birthday present when he was moved up a notch after an inquiry to win the GLADA (Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association) trot with Son Of Sona at Northfield Park.

The eight-year-old son of Dontyouforgetit sawed through all the fractions—:29.3, :59 and 1:28.4—before being out sprinted to the wire and finishing second to Kandy Sweet driven by Larry Ferrari.

But, after a judges inquiry after an incident just prior to the opening quarter, the order of finish was changed, resulting in the “DQ” and making a huge difference in tote-board prices, as well.

When the “Official” sign was posted, Son Of Sona, the heavy favorite, was on top of the board, followed, then, by Ohhelpmebaby (27/1), driven by Devan Miller, placed second with Cessna Bride (40/1), handled by Justin Mullett, up a notch to third. Baby Yoda (5/1), with Edward Miller in his sulky, was “fifth placed fourth” with Back Door Man (23/11) grabbing the nickel for Floyd Rhodes.

At the outset, Son Of Sona, post five, left with alacrity as did Kandy Sweet (5/2) along side from post six and these two squared off in a war during the opening quarter when Kandy Sweet took two bad steps—the judges determining that many in the rest of the field were bothered as Ohhelpmebaby, Back Door Man and Krisrty’sgingergal were all “charted” with interference and/or breaks—the latter finished last crossing the line.

As things settled down, Cessna Pride began applying pressure to the leader throughout the journey until the top of the lane.

It was then that Kandy Sweet found some room to roam and get by the leader late in the mile with the judges determining the missteps enough to cause the order of finish change.

With the second choice in the betting off the tote-board, the $1 trifecta returned $669.20 and the 20-cent pentafecta came back $13,274.78.

Trained by Keith Kash, Jr. for Todd Rosenberg, Son Of Sona was awarded his second win of the season in four starts, good for $ $13,025 in this young season and $180,195 lifetime, primarily on the strength of 26 career wins to go along with his mark of 1:54.3.

Driver Don Sherman now has 417 career wins—his first one being in 1998—with this one rewarding his faithful with a mutuel of $3.40 to win.