After 46 years of working to get to this moment, Rick “The Whip” Zeron was not going to be denied now. With a rolled up race program clutched tightly in his hands, he began beating it to shreds on the table in Pink as his filly Atlanta opened up coming off the turn, urging her home from his perch in the Meadowlands dining room.
When Atlanta crossed the wire a full length the best Saturday afternoon — becoming not only Zeron’s first Hambletonian winner, but also the first filly to win trotting’s greatest prize since Continentalvictory last did it 22 years ago (and just the 14th filly all-time) — Zeron was really in the pink as mayhem ensued. There were hugs, tears, screaming and an abused race program sent airborne never to be seen again.