BREAKING NEWS — A check of the Pompano Park entry sheet for the races drawn for Sunday, December 20 shows George Napolitano Jr. listed to drive two horses for trainer Chris Oakes at the Florida track.
Oakes was the leading UTR trainer at the recently-concluded Harrah's Philadelphia meet, and he has teamed with Napolitano both at Philly and at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, where the pair scored in the $500,000 Ben Franklin FFA Pace Final with former Breeders Crown winner Luck Be Withyou on July 4.
It is not known whether Oakes had consulted with Napolitano before listing him; Napolitano said in an interview with the Daily Racing Form yesterday that he had no plans for further sulky competition in 2015.
Updates will undoubtedly be available from Pompano Park, and from The Meadows and Northfield Park, the bases of operation for Aaron Merriman, who yesterday won three races to take over the lead from Napolitano in the 2015 North American dashwinning derby, with the score entering today Merriman 833, Napolitano 832.
(Noted by an inquiring fan at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday)