NAADA splits to Sheridan and Adamczyk

YONKERS, N.Y.— Yogi Sheridan led from pillar to post, and Andrew Adamczyk persisted through a first-over grind to win their respective $13,100 harness racing divisions of the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) Trot at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday night (June 13).

In the first division, Sheridan thrusted Mr Contestant (Winning Mister) to the lead from the pylon post and took no prisoners to the end of a 1:59.1 mile.

Mr Contestant clicked past the first quarter in :29.1 with the field settled all behind him, and from there had no others menacing. He strode by a :59.3 half and continued to coast powerfully up the backstretch with just All Rise (driven by Tony Beltrami) as his closest foe.

By three-quarters in 1:29.1, Mr Contestant motored through the last turn and stayed strong for home to register a one-length win over All Rise at the beam with Making Sparks (Alan Schwartz) giving chase in third and Psalmsfortysixfive (Scott Keppler) kicking off a second-over trip for fourth.

Peter Pellegrino trains Mr Contestant, a 9-year-old gelding, for owner Room 4040 LLC Stables. Off the second choice in the betting, he paid $4.80 to win.

MR CONTESTANT REPLAY

Andrew Adamczyk pushed along the rim to deliver odds-on choice Explosive Ridge (Explosive Matter) to the beam first in the other NAADA division.

Explosive Ridge settled into third from the pylon post while the outside pair bolted for the front. Call Me Thefireman (Anthony Verruso) launched from post 7 but took the pocket to Skyway Professor (Matt Zuccarello), zipping from post 8 to the lead. Skyway Professor carried the field by a :29.2 first quarter and tapped the brakes towards a 1:00 half, where Adamczyk gave Explosive Ridge his cue to move.

Explosive Ridge marched after Skyway Professor up the backstretch and locked eyes after three-quarters in 1:29.1 while Call Me Thefireman began to waver. Stride for stride for home, Explosive Ridge had enough in reserve to surge by Skyway Professor in the stretch and edge away to a 1-1/4-length win in 1:59.3. Kasha’s Boy (Alan Schwartz) followed the winner’s cover for third and Shoemaker Hanover (John Calabrese) rallied from last for fourth.

Andrew Adamczyk owns and trains Explosive Ridge, a 10-year-old gelding. He paid $3.50 to win.

EXPLOSIVE RIDGE REPLAY

NAADA action continues next Thursday (June 20) at Yonkers Raceway for the third preliminary of the club’s Summer Series. First-race post time at Yonkers is 7 p.m. (EDT).

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Ray Cotolo, for NAADA