This year, more than ever before, the proliferation of amateur driving clubs has played a significant role in supplying horses to help fill betting races, especially at some racetracks on the east coast. And better yet, the public has come to feel as secure in wagering on the amateurs as they would on professional drivers.
And what now has become a new normal, the participating amateurs are members of multiple clubs which among others include; the Billings series, The NAADA series, and at Monticello Raceway, the Catskill Club series.
So it wasn’t unusual that Tony Verruso, the president of Billings, also participated this season in the NAADA races as well as the Catskill offerings.
On Thursday afternoon in the $7,000 final of the Catskill Amateur Drivers Club Series at Monticello Raceway, Verruso scored a hard-fought victory with Talldarknhandsome in a time of 2:00.4 over an extremely muddy racetrack. And, for the record, it was the third win the for that horse and driver combo in the five- race CADC series.
Despite the inclement weather and the muddy racetrack the amateur drivers made a good showing with four horses on the wire at the finish.
The eventual winner scooted to the lead from the two hole and took a seat behind the betting favourite, Mccabe Hall (Tony Ciufettelli). Despite horses two and three wide in the early going Verruso was steadfast in holding his position until the field rounded the final turn and headed for paydirt, when at that point, he angled Talldarknhandsome to the passing lane and under strong urging the veteran Life Sign gelding got up in the finals strides to overtake Mccabe Hall and score the pacer's 16th win of the season.
“The mud and the falling rain made it tough going out there today,” Verruso said referring to the racing conditions on the track. “The outside flow just seemed to hang but that worked to my advantage since I was tight on Ciuffetelli’s back right from the start.
"When we reached the top of the stretch I angled the big guy to the passing lane he lumbered along slowly gaining ground with every long stride and at the finish he got his head in front of Mccabe Hall for the victory.
“He nice horse but he’s so big that he has no real quick speed," Verruso added. "He needs constant urging but he usually gets the job done.”
Third place in the photo was Joe Lee with Dexter Jig while Paul Walker was fourth with Arts Jimmy Ray, a half-length behind Dexter Jig.
Talldarknhandsome, owned by Ed Hall and James Hall and trained by Dan Gill, paid $13.00 for win.
For Verruso, it marked his sixth seasonal driving victory and the 59th of his amateur career.
(CKG Billings)