by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Though the sun shone brightly on the afternoon of February 6, the temperature at post time at Monticello Raceway was barely 10 degrees and with the wind gusting up to 35 miles per hour, to say it was a nasty day would be an understatement.

But like the sport of football, harness racing goes on despite the weather.

Racehorsephoto.com photo

Special Report was still strong as he neared the finish wire.

So when the pacer Special Report toured the Mighty M double oval in a time of 1:55, even track announcer Howard Oil was impressed.

“Why if it was a summer day that mile would be equivalent to a 1:52 mile,” he chirped after Larry Stalbaum guided Special Report to a five length triumph over the best pacers on the grounds. “And he paced the last half in :57 (seconds), incredible!”

The victory marked the second consecutive win in the weekly $15,000 Preferred Pace for the 5-year-old Keystone Raider gelding, who was a winner of over $72,000 last year with a seasonal best clocking of 1:53.3.

The pacer, sent off as the odds-on favorite, bolted to the lead and was well in front as the field headed for the quarter-pole, which he passed in :28.1. From there all Stalbaum had to do was hold on as Special Report made his assignment look easy and the farther the pacer went the more daylight Special Report put between himself and the rest of the field. At the finish he was an oh-so-easy winner in an almost unbelievable time (especially for the weather that day) of 1:55.

Owned by Hugo Iodice of Bayonne, N.J. and trained by Kim Asher, Special Report paid $3.80 for win.

Former Mighty M driving champ Greg Merton had his best day of the fledgling season after he reined four winners on the card.

Merton, whose 262 wins were tops here during the 2000 campaign, began his afternoon assault with a 1:59.4 triumph behind Pacific Jerry ($4.90) in the first race on the card. He then won the third with Mr Music ($5.20) in 2:01.2 and the fifth with Carolina Major in 1:58.4. His fourth winner on the card came in race 12 when he reined Persuader Raider ($7.10) home first in a time of 1:59.2.