by John Manzi, for the Billings Series

Monticello, NY — Six days after the Meadowlands carded three amateur trots on their Hambletonian weekend betting card of Aug. 7, Monticello Raceway followed suit on its Thursday (Aug. 13) afternoon program, also carding three amateur races for fans to wager on. Two were trots in the C.K.G. Billings Harness Driving Series while a third was a pace for members of the Catskill Amateur Drivers Club.

Bobby “Rapid Rail” Krivelin and Dave “Yes Its True” Offenberg each won their respective Billings split, while Tony “the Capo” Verruso was victorious in the CADC Pace.

Geri Schwarz photo

Permanent Joy was a 1:58.1 winner for Bobby Krivelin.

Sent off as the odds-on favorite, Krivelin made a laugher of his Billings division when he guided Permanent Joy to a seven length triumph over “Pacin’ Peter” Gerry’s Flex The Muscle in a 1:58.1 clocking. Offenberg, a 21-1 outsider with Kings Cavalier, sauntered home a solid one length victor over Dave “Steady As” Yarock’s CSI What’s My Name in a time of 2:00.3.

Krivelin, last year’s USHWA Amateur Driver of the Year, bided his time traveling along in third position and then moved Permanent Joy to the lead after the halfway point. From there they kept opening daylight on their completion and cruised home an easy winner over Flex The Muscle for the mare’s third seasonal triumph. Hallanet finished third for Paul “the Coach” Minore.

Owned by Krivelin’s Hero Stables, Permanent Joy, an 8-year-old daughter of Trot For Joy, not only scored her third seasonal triumph but the 21st of her racing career. For Krivelin it marked his ninth seasonal triumph and the 176th of his amateur driving career.

Offenberg’s route to victory was different than Krivelin’s. King’s Cavalier got away slowly from the seven hole and was some 11 lengths behind at the first stanza. When the duo passed the half they were still seven lengths back of the leader. However, up the backside Offenberg moved his trotter three-deep as they passed the three-quarters and at the top of the stretch they had their sights on the pacesetter, Swift Blizzard and driver Paul Minore.

In the lane King’s Cavalier trotted by the odds-on favorite CSI What’s My Name to score his first seasonal triumph. Sam’s Honeybee was third for Tony Verruso while Swift Blizzard faded and finished sixth.

Owned by Offenberg’s Allister Stables and trained by Eric Abbatiello, it was the 16th career victory for the 8-year-old Yankee Glide gelding. The victory was also the first of the year for Offenberg and the 47th of his amateur career.

The third amateur race on the card saw Tony “the Capo” Verruso guide Ed and James Hall’s Talldarknhandsome to a 1-1/4 length victory over Son Day, who was driven by “Yankee Joe” Lee.

After allowing Ken “Farmer” Heins to take command with Horseshoe Tavern before the first quarter, Verruso shadowed the leader all the way until mid-stretch where he angled Talldarknhandsome to the outside and they rallied to the victory over Son Day. Third place went to CC’s Lover N, driven by “Mighty Matt” Zuccarello.

It was second seasonal driving victory and 55th of his career for Tony Verruso, who is also the president of the Billings Series. For Talldarknhandsome, a 7-year-old altered son of Life Sign trained by Dan Gill, it marked his 11th win this year.