Freehold, NJ—The old adage 'when you're hot you're hot' could easily apply to driver John Calabrese after he scored his second consecutive driving victory in the $9000 American Harness Drivers Club series trot at Freehold Raceway on the sunny afternoon of November 21.
Unlike last week when Calabrese used a pocket trip to score a 1:59.3 victory with Shoemaker Hanover today he put Ooh Rah on the engine and used the front-end route for a solid 1:58.1 triumph
Having great credentials and starting from the three-hole, Ooh Rah took "all the money" when the attending crowd sent the trotter away at odds-of 1-5 …and none of his backers was disappointed.
When the starter released the field Calabrese sent Ooh Rah immediately to the lead from the three-hole and they had command when the quarter mile timer flashed :28.4. From there it was little more than a buggy ride for Calabrese as Ooh Rah passed the half-way point in :58.2 and they had no challenges up the backside and past the three quarters in 1:28.1.
In the lane Ooh Rah was on cruise control all the way to the wire and scored an easy 1-1/2 length triumph over 53-1 shot Can Do, who was driven by Joe Lee. Third place went to 13-year-old Wygant Prince, driven by Paul Minore.
Ooh Rah is owned by Kathleen La Montagne and Donald La Montagne and trained by Kathleen La Montagne. He returned a paltry $2.40 for win.
by John Manzi, for the American Harness Drivers Club