International Trot set
Broadway Joe Namath still respects Mike Ditka, but Namath said he was “surprised” by Ditka’s comments Monday during the former Bears coach’s interview with Jim Gray, when Ditka said “there has been no oppression in the last 100 years.”
“I think Mike is brilliant. I was surprised. Being as smart as Mike is, something’s wrong,” Namath told the Daily News on Tuesday night at Cipriani 42nd Street, where a dinner was held that raised money and awareness for the Joe Namath Neurological Research Center at Jupiter (Fla.) Medical Center.
Former Super Bowl champion quarterback Joe Theismann and Cody Gifford, the son of the late Hall of Fame Giant Frank Gifford, were also on hand.
“If you look up the definition (of “oppression”), I mean, c’mon,” said Namath.
The legendary Jets quarterback, who helped the franchise win its only Super Bowl (Super Bowl III), said that his first experience with oppression came not in the deep South at the University of Alabama during the ’60s, when Namath played for Paul (Bear) Bryant and when the civil rights movement churned across the country. Namath said when he was growing up in western Pennsylvania (Beaver Falls), he and a “buddy” of his who was black, went into a local pizza shop owned by a woman.
“When she told my buddy to get out of there and ‘Namath, you can stay,’ no way I was staying,” said Namath. “I went home
Get ready for possible Marauder madness Saturday.
The trainer for Marion Marauder called the 2016 Triple Crown winner in harness racing — Hambletonian, Yonkers Trot and Kentucky Futurity — “a horse of a lifetime” Tuesday at the 21 Club in Midtown, where the post position draw for Saturday’s Yonkers International Trot was held.
Marion Marauder, trained by Paula Wellwood, drew the No. 1 post for Saturday’s race at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway.
The defending International Trot champion, Resolve, drew the No. 6 post. Ake Svanstedt will be the driver for Resolve while Scott Zeron will guide Marion Marauder. The odds on Resolve are 3-1, while Marion Marauder is a 5-1 shot.
There are eight horses in Saturday’s gate and two in the second tier, On Track Piraten, which drew the No. 10 post, and Tripolini, which has the No. 9 post. This is the richestever harness racing program in New York state, and there are 11 stakes races for a total of $3.3 million.