Hall of Fame drivers Tim Tetrick and David Miller highlight a bonanza 13-race extravaganza at Pompano Park on Monday (Feb. 14), featuring the annual Tetrick-Miller Pro-Am competition contested in a three-race series with the top amateur drivers in South Florida.
The Pro-Am event, sponsored by the Florida Amateur Driving Club (FADC), has become an annual highlight in South Florida with Miller and Tetrick competing in a spirited — but friendly — competition benefitting local, regional and national charitable organizations.
Since its inception, the FADC has donated over $220,000 to charity made possible by the generosity of the entire FADC membership donating all earnings from driving to the cause.
The Pro-Am competition will take place in Race 2, Race 5 and Race 7 with Tetrick and Miller heading their respective teams with a point system determining the winner.
While Tetrick and Miller, full time professionals on the harness racing circuit, have accumulated over 26,000 wins between them accounting for over $500,000,000 in earnings benefitting standardbred horse owners, many of the amateur drivers, competing relatively sparingly, have amassed several hundred wins, including some on foreigh soil.
As FADC President Dein Spriggs said, "yes, it's a friendly competition but we are all out there to reach the winner's circle and the prestige in winning this team event cannot be over-emphasized. It should be a very competitive event with no easy task for our two professionals!"
The first Pro-Am event features Miller driving Phoenician from post two with an 8-1 morning line while Tetrick will handle Keystone Orion, the classy 13 year-old with lifetime earnings of over $500,000. Keystone Orion has drawn post eight and has a morning line of 6 to 1. Tetrick will attempt to guide the veteran to a milestone win — his 50th in his career.
The next Pro-Am has Miller paired with Dont Sass Me (post 7) with a morning line of 9-2, while Tetrick will guide the mare Celebrity Serena (post 8) opening at 6-1.
The final event has Miller driving Chav Hanover from the rail at 4-1 while Tetrick will take Little Big Rigs postward off of morning line odds of 8-1.
Among the combatants for the FADC are Dein Spriggs, Tony Dinges, Kelly "Sky" Walker and Joe Pennacchio.
Spriggs enters the competition with 496 wins and a UDRS this season of a lofty .510. He will be guiding his own Uva Hanover in the finale, going for his fifth-straight win.
Dinges, one of the higher percentage trainers at the track, has seven wins on the circuit this season while "Sky" Walker has nine.
Pennacchio has been driving in the amateur ranks since 1995, when he won his first race over the famed Delaware, Ohio Little Brown Jug oval and has won close to 200 races.
Proceeds from the event will benefit two of the Hall Of Famers favorite charities, New Vocations and The Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Tetrick long has been an advocate of aftercare for retired standardbreds. He said, "These equine athletes--and they are athletes, give us their heart and soul every day, whether it be training or on the track in competition. Some make it all the way to retirement when they reach 15 and some don't but all deserve care and a good home after their racing days are complete. They are the real stars of the track and New Vocations does an incredible job in the transition of racehorses for a second career as a riding horse or finding them lifetime, caring homes."
Miller, likewise, has envied the work of the Make-A-Wish Foundation relating, "They do an amazing job making wishes come true for the kids that are not as fortunate in terms of health. If I--if we--can help change a life with our contributions, it's worth so much to me. It's an honor for me to participate in some small way."
While the Miller-Tetrick Pro-Am is the headliner for Monday, it is not the only competition in which they will compete.
Miller is listed in all 13 races on Monday and will kick off the festivities in the opener, the $14,200 Open Handicap Pace, with Seeing Eye Single, listed as the 3-1 morning line favourite.
Tetrick will drive in seven events, including the featured first race, as well, back of JMs Delight, listed at 5-1.
The top trotters on the grounds will also be in action in the $14,200 Open Handicap Trot as an evenly matched sextet goes postward in the sixth race kicking off the Pick-4 with a $15,000 guaranteed pool and an industry low 12-percent takeout.
There will also be a pair of Pick 5 events, a late Pick 4 and a full wagering buffet for the "Send It In Army."
Post time Monday is set for 7:20 p.m. (EST).
(Pompano Park)