Greetings of the Season

Here is a wish for a very Merry Christmas and a safe, happy and healthy New Year.

C y'all down the road.

Dave

A Christmas Story of Another Kind

Hi There,

Yes...It's been a while since I’ve had anything interesting to say, but I wanted to give you my spin on what I consider a Christmas story of another kind.

On Wednesday December 12, there was an announcement posted on the USTA Online Newsroom (the website of the United States Trotting Association) that I am sure that many may have missed. It was the obituary of a racing man by the name of Michael Foley.

I had never met Mr. Foley, but based on his everything I have heard about the man, I am sure he was well respected in the New York area-racing scene. In his later years, racing and horses became his reasons for getting up every morning.

Sadly, as he began to lose to his infirmities, he had no choice but to let that part of his life go. In September, he said goodbye to the last of his horses, Paul’s Laughing.

Without taking too much from the statement, his daughter, Ms. Patti Hill related, “That horse was his life insurance policy. He always said that if he had to give the horse away, he wouldn’t be far behind.” He died less than two months later.

Now, in what appears to be an unrelated event, last week, South Salem, New York’s Carmen Ciccone completed a sweep of the year 2007 by winning the American Harness Drivers Club’s Fall Pacing Series Final. He was there, driving in defense of his championship from the Spring Series.

It was a close call for Ciccone to have even gotten to the races, not to mention the final. As late as few weeks prior to the start of the series, Ciccone was without a horse. His Chip’s Treasure, who had taken him to the spring final championship, had raced himself up and out of the AHDC conditions.

At the eleventh-hour, Ciccone finally found a suitable teammate, but with so little time, he was not sure how competitive they would be. After a cautious beginning, they completed a solid series with a win, a place, and a show, starting in three of the five legs. His horse proved to be a reliable and honest racehorse after all.

After a daylong barrage of ice and snow, a slushy Meadowlands racetrack became the stage where Ciccone and his mount made a perfectly timed move at the three-quarter pole and stormed down the stretch, en-route to an impressive final victory.

I had the honor of presenting Ciccone and his parents (his biggest fans) the Championship trophy in the Winner’s Circle celebration, somewhat abbreviated due to the weather conditions.

While I am not one who usually believes in such things, I had the strangest feeling that someone or something else was with us as the photograph was taken. I dismissed it to cold temperatures and the fact that I was freezing my...uh, you get the idea.

Later that evening, as I was busy updating the club’s website and preparing a release to the USTA, it occurred to me that Ciccone had at one point mentioned that the horse, who somehow became available at the last minute, had been given to him by a friend who had fallen ill. The pieces were beginning to fit into place.

Ciccone's mount was Paul's Laughing, the horse that kept Mr. Foley going until he could go no longer. The date of the final, Thursday December 13, just one day after the posting of Mr. Foley’s announcement.

I am sure that when the Ciccone's get that Winner’s Circle picture from the Meadowlands and take a good, hard look, they will find Mr. Foley in the background, with the broadest smile of all.
Happy Holidays to one all.

AHDC Leg III Results

Comcast has taken a big step...backwards and I now cannot update the AHDC website at the link I specified in my previous post...so this will have to do for now. Stay tuned...I may looking for a new home for our website that will require opening up my wallet.

In Division I, Don Hicks won his first race as a member of the AHDC with a wire-to-wire score, while steering Downhill Racer. He had to survive a late bid from Carmen Ciccone and Paul's Laughing who came after him as the field was passing the three-quarter mark. Down the stretch, Hicks and the six year old gelded son of Rambaran were up to the challenge and pulled away, getting to the wire first a half length in front. They stopped the timer at 2:03 after fractions of 30.1, 1:01.3 and 1:32.2 to the three quarter mark.

Neil Goldstein finished third with Gamblers Legacy, Richard Timmerman was next with Falcons Past while Joe Froelich rounded out the field with Know Stones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-J_LDA4AdQ

In the second heat, Miguel Lopez nearly duplicated Hicks' efforts as he attempted to take Gerry's Rocket coast-to-coast. However, a very patient Bob Hechkoff shadowed his every move, sitting just behind in second with KD's Power Shift. As they turned for home, Hechkoff pulled his seven year old Katorzheniki gelding to the outside and wore down the leaders as the wire approached. In the final strides, Hechkoff took the lead, and the win keeping his record a perfect three-for-three in the series. Time of the mile was 2:01.4 after fractions of 30.1, 1:01 and 1:31.

David Yarock took the show dough with Whitsunday Beach, John Regina was fourth with Meigs

Nobel Sammy while Israel Galarza completed the order of finish with Spiritus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZHeElwZPAI

The Current Point Standings:

1. Bob Hechkoff 31

2. Miguel Lopez 21

3. David Yarock 14

4. Phil Winkler 13

5. Don Hicks 10

6. Carmen Ciccone 9

7. Monica Thors 6

7. Joe De Martine 6

7. John Regina 6

7. Richard Timmerman 6

7. Neil Goldstein 6

12. Joe Froelich 4

12. Brad Rathbone 4

14. Debra D' Angelo 1

14. Israel Galarza 1

AHDC Leg III Entries

As promised......

The American Harness Drivers Club
2007 Fall Pacing Series
Leg III
Freehold Raceway
Saturday November 3, 2007
Post Time 11:20 AM (EDT)

ENTRIES
Division I
1. Downhill Skier Don Hicks Kerin Warner
2. Gamblers Legacy Neil Goldstein Elizabeth Carotenuto
3. Know Stones Joe Froelich Gary Finnigan
4. Paul's Laughing Carmen Ciccone Joe Caraluzzi
5. Falcons Past Richard Timmerman Robert Colasanti

Division II
1. Meigs Noble Sammy John Regina Jim Doherty Jr.
2. Spiritus Israel Galarza Alfredo Callazo
3. Whitsunday Beach Dave Yarock Jim Doherty Jr.
4. Gerry's Rocket Miguel Lopez Paul Michalko
5. KD's Powershift Robert Hechkoff Jim Doherty Jr

Comcast is slowly beginning to make progress. I can now update the the web page, but you can only access it via the alternate link: http://home.comcast.net/~krepow016/ahdc.html.

Hope this nightmare is over soon. Good luck on Saturday.

More to come.....c y'all down the road...

Technical Support for Dummies

Since I am a two-dollar betting man, I'd drop a show wager that most of you were able to find this blog site as a link from the American Harness Drivers Club web page.

If you've been able to find us since our last race on October 13th, congratulations are truly in order. You were either diligent or lucky enough to find the "not-ready-for-prime-time" alternate link (http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ahdc/ahdc.html) to the AHDC site.

This is not the link published and advertised by so many racing-related websites(including the United States Trotting Association) and in the list of favorites of at least one or two other people besides myself.

Based on a number of e-mails and phone calls, I'm sure that many of you have been experiencing the frustration of clicking our usual production link http://home.comcast.net/~ahdc/ahdc.html and finding...that we do not exist!

Well...maybe we don't...but our web page does and it is currently being held hostage by the technical support staff at that beneficent media giant, Comcast.

Comcast is currently in the middle of an upgrade to their web page and file saving features that in their estimation, will save the world from everything from global warming to the possibility of another Republican administration.

As I have been in the technology business for more years than I usually care to admit, I have come to know that these efforts are generally a disaster waiting to happen...and it did.

I'll spare the details, but the bottom line is that our web site is out of commission until Comcast can figure out how to turn their computers on...or at least spell C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R. Unfortunately, all of my inquiries into their progress (and offers of assistance) are usually met with a less than courteous "well, if you knew anything about computers, you'd know that (fill in the blanks)".

The problem is that I do know, more than they'd dream of...and what they're trying to do 'ain't pretty'. It may be a while and I will keep you posted on their progress.

In the meantime, we had to change our schedule at the request of Freehold Raceway as they were expecting a large simulcast crowd for the Breeder's Cup races held at nearby Monmouth Park. So, Leg III will now be held on November 3rd with Leg IV a week later on November 10th.

Since communication is everything and I cannot make any changes to the website until further notice, I will post the entries and results here and will continue to upload the videos to Youtube.com.

I do apologize for the inconvenience, but if the company I work for supported our customers in the same manner as Comcast feels obliged, we would have our asses kicked out of business in a minute and Osama and his friends would be waltzing down Broadway...just an observation.

More to follow....c y'all down the road.

The American Harness Drivers Club

This post is dedicated to the members of the American Harness Drivers Club.

The sport of Harness Racing is unique in the sense that anyone with the desire can participate on the track as an amateur driver. Of course, there is more too it than just climbing out of the grandstand and into a sulky. But after the appropriate time of learning the ropes, just about anybody can participate with one of the many amateur clubs sprinkled throughout North America.

I am fortunate to have been associated with The American Harness Drivers Club for over the last ten years. The club is based at Freehold Raceway in Freehold, New Jersey and was the early 90's brainchild of Eddie Ryan, then the GM of the track and club President Bernie Boland, a successful local businessman

The club conducts a spring and fall series consisting of five races(or legs) culminating in a Final held at The Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, NJ.

On Saturday September 29th, 12 of my good friends will line up behind the Freehold Raceway starting gate in one of two divisions as we kick off the 2007 Fall Pacing Series with the first leg. If you're in the area, come out and see what the club is all about. I'll be the guy with the video camera.

If you would like more info, check out our website at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ahdc/ahdc.html.

More to follow....c y'all down the road

Welcome everybody

Hiya folks.

I just wanted to welcome you to my new blog site. I'm calling it "The Passing Lane" in deference to my greatest passion, the sport of Harness Racing.

The passing lane was an innovation added to the game about ten years ago. At the time, many of the existing race tracks were removing their inner "hub" rail as a safety measure, replacing them with a string of spring-loaded pylons, much like those you'd see on the goal line of a football field. Then, someone had the stroke of brilliance to move the pylons placed in the homestretch a few yards to the left, thus creating a "passing" lane which would give horses, once hopelessly locked in on the rail, a fighting chance to win in the final strides.

What an amazing idea that added a little more fun to the game...I hope this crazy idea of a blogsite turns out the same way.

More to come.....C y'all down the road.