Nothing odd there you say? Well take this into account: Oldford left his home in Michigan at 4 a.m. to make a 6 a.m. flight directly to Newburgh, N.Y., where his trainer, Alan Sisco, picked him up and shuttled him to Monticello Raceway, some 40 minutes away.

Oliver Kiss and driver Steve Oldford emerged victorious via a disqualification.

And the inconvenience of the excessive travel was certainly worthwhile when Oldford won the NAADA trot with his Oliver Kiss.

Asked why he did what he did Oldford smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, “What’s the big deal. I fly all over in my business. Just last week I traveled through much of Mexico selling my products and I have so many frequent flyer miles so to fly from Detroit to Monticello to drive in an amateur race is no big deal to me. Now I’ve got to catch a plane back to Detroit at 5 p.m.”

Although Oldford returned with the trophy his victory included some luck. Sitting third along the pylons as the field turned for home Oldford got lucky when a racing infraction disqualified Mandinga, the first horse under the wire in a 2:04.2 clocking.

The “DQ” of Mandingo, driven by Alan Schwartz, meant Oliver Kiss and Oldford were placed first. Guiding Light and Dave Yarock were placed second and Ace High Hall and Bobby Krivelin -- the horse Schwartz’s trotter interfered with -- was placed third.

“Hey, call me whatever you want,” a smiling Steve Oldford said after the race. “I’m addicted to amateur racing and I admit it!”

Oldford owns Oliver Kiss, who paid $13.40 to win.

Third leg of the B’s Startrek Trotting Series contested

Also on Feb. 21 the final two preliminary legs of the B’s Startrek Trotting Series were contested, with Distinct Victory and Digital Photo each emerging victorious in their divisions.

Geri Schwarz photos

Distinct Victory zoomed to victory for Jimmy Devaux.

Jimmy Devaux, up behind Al Annunziata’s Distinct Victory, benefitted from a near picture-perfect trip, coasting along in second position until the top of the stretch and then rallying through the passing lane to turn back Mr Lucky Luciano (Cory Stratton) and Strongbow (Jimmy Taggart Jr.) in a 2:03 clocking.

Sent off as second choice in the nine-horse field, Digital Photo paid $7.40 to win.

In the second division Greg Merton and Digital Photo stalked the odds-on favorites, Mystical Heiress and Bruce Aldrich Jr., from the halfway point and in the lane, where it appeared that Mystical Heiress’s three-length lead would hold up, but she tired badly in the last 100 yards and Digital Photo got up in the final strides to emerge victorious by just a nose in a time of 2:02.3. Iroquouindianmagic took home the show dough for Alan Schwartz.

Owned by Ruth and Jerry Calcagni, Digital Photo also turned back eight others and returned a $11.80 win payoff.

Next Thursday the eight top point-earners in the B’s Startrek Trotting Series will be eligible for the series finale.