Schwartz, Calabrese victorious in NAADA Spring Series Opener

YONKERS, N.Y.— Alan Schwartz capitalized from a pocket ride and John Calabrese shocked the tote board in their respective harness racing divisions of the $13,100 opening preliminary for the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) Spring Fling Series at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday night (March 20).

Schwartz delivered 6-5 favorite Itsoneofthose to a 1:59.3 victory in the first division of the NAADA Trot.

Poised behind pacesetter Alexander (driven by Tony Beltrami) through fractions of :29.4, :59 and 1:28.1, Schwartz lifted his charge from the pocket rounding the final turn and dashed by to a 2-1/2-length win.

Hobbs (Victoria Stratton) chased the top two for third and Winneress (Anthony Verruso) followed suit in fourth.

Alan Schwartz owns and trains Itsoneofthose, an 8-year-old gelding by Chapter Seven. He paid $4.40 to win.

ITSONEOFTHOSE REPLAY

Calabrese navigated a snug trip in the second division with Shoemaker Hanover to land a 45-1 upset in a 2-minute mile. After Big Charlie Moran (Mario D’Abruzzo) cleared the lead through a :29.1 first quarter, he endured pressure from 38-1 shot Raceace (Alan Schwartz) into a :59.3 half, where Calabrese edged off the pylons to occupy the second-over seat. Raceace tired up the backside and found room to nestle along the pylons, leaving Shoemaker Hanover to face the breeze and push towards Big Charlie Moran up the backstretch. Shoemaker Hanover made inroads through three-quarters in 1:29.3 and kept grinding through the turn until he nosed ahead of Big Charlie Moran in the stretch and pulled away to a 1-1/2-length win. Psalmsfortysixfive (Scott Keppler) snagged third while Raceace settled for fourth.

SHOEMAKER HANOVER REPLAY

John Calabrese trains Shoemaker Hanover, a 12-year-old stallion by Cantab Hall, for his Calabrese Farms LLC and co-owner Michelle Rickey. He paid $93.50 to win.

NAADA action resumes next Thursday (March 27) with the second of 10 preliminaries for the Spring Fling Series. First-race post time at Yonkers is 6:45 p.m. (EDT).

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

by Ray Cotolo, for the NAADA