MONDAY,
APRIL 27, 2009
PRESS RELEASE
WEST
GETS BACK ON WINNING TRACK AND DEFEATS TEAM EAST AT 4TH ANNUAL
EAST-WEST AMATEUR CHALLENGE
Contact:
David Siegel (dsiegel@axcis.com)
After
being defeated in 2008, The Left Coasters defeated the Billings Brigaders, 151-98
over the two-night, seven race series at the East-West Amateur Challenge at
Cal-Expo. Steve “Mr. Sacramento”
Chambers, summed it all up when he said, “while I am happy that our team held
their own, I cannot feel anything but like everyone came out a winner; this is
what amateur racing is all about”. The
races were all competitive, and the desire for each driver to win was only
exceeded by the sportsmanship on the track and camaraderie that occurred off
the track.
On
Saturday morning and afternoon, Team East was treated to a tour of the State
Capitol, Old Town Sacramento, and lunch on a River Boat in “Old Sac”.
The
first evening of competition resulted in a comfortable lead for team West. Dave Siegel captured the first two races
winning with Outlaws Song N Dance and Red Star Wild One. Tim Miller came back in the third leg with a
longshot ($33) victory with SA Sunset.
Sue Boyce put the Californians well ahead in points in the last leg of
the evening driving Rama Hanover ($16.80) to a one-length victory. At the end of the first evening, the west
had a commanding 83-55 point advantage.
On
Saturday night, the long-shots continued to reward their backers as Sue Boyce
won her second of two wins guiding Wicked Tony ($36.40) from last to first in
the 5th leg of the two-night challenge. Dave Siegel widened the West’s lead rating Fearless Sahbra to his
third win of the event (and 100th of his career). In the 7th and final leg of the
event, Tim Miller notched his second win with Day Tripper giving the East renewed
enthusiasm for coming back in 2010.
Detailed
results, charts and race replays can be found on the host's California Amateur
Driving Club (CADC) web site at:
http://www.thecadc.com/standings_eastwest09.html
Tim
Miller, Dave Offenberg, Dave Drew and Larry Farley, all top-10 Billings Drivers
from their respective divisions in 2008 represented Team East. The Golden Staters were Sue Boyce, Dave
Siegel, Chris Hernandez and Rick Bertrand. 27 different Cal-Expo trainers entered 53 horses in the seven race
series.
Team
East brought gifts commemorating the event for the participating drivers,
trainers and racing secretaries. In
addition, through the generosity of the Billings organization and the Cal-Expo,
purses were augmented by about 50%.
Assistant racing secretary Joe Nefsky commented that the handle on the
amateur races was at or above par with the other races and he was quite
satisfied with the monies and interest generated by the Challenge series.
“There
is not sufficient space to thank all of those who contributed to making this
event the success that it was. Our
horseman’s organization and 27 trainers saw the positive attributes of amateur
racing to enter their horses. Seeing
old friends, making new ones, great sportsmanship, and the eventual attraction
of new owners through possible participation are just a few of the things
amateur racing brings to the sport. I
cannot thank these horsemen enough for their contributions,” said California
Amateur Driving Club (CADC) president and Challenge participant David Siegel.
“We also greatly appreciate the contributions of our operator, Cal-Expo racing, and in particular it’s GM Dave Elliott, Racing Secretary Fred Kuebler and Assistant Racing Secretary Joe Nefsky which, for the third year running, gave this event the support it needed to be successful. In addition, things like this can only work within a positive partnership setting. The support shown by our horseman’s association (CHHA) and its executive director Jimmy Perez was essential to make this event the success it turned out to be. And while the organizations’ leaders exhibited great support, at the end of the day it is the entering trainers and owners that allow this to occur. All of the amateurs cannot thank them enough for their support and participation. Good-will ambassador and CADC board member Steve Chambers ensured that all of the needs of Team East were taken care of and is most appreciated for his efforts”, said Siegel