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Cat Manzi looks to claim Dash Title
55-Year-Old Driver Only Three Weeks Away

December 11, 2005

The odds of an athlete having a career season at age 55 are pretty slim, but Cat Manzi is proof that longshots can finish first. In a career that has spanned nearly four decades, Manzi is only three weeks away from claiming his first North American dash-winning
title. Through December 9, Manzi leads all drivers with 674 victories. Tony Morgan is currently second with 637, while Mark MacDonald ranks third with 634.

To prove he is serious about securing the title, Manzi is pulling double-headers, driving afternoons at Freehold and evenings at the Meadowlands, Wednesday through Saturday and then trekking to Monticello for the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday cards.

"It's important to me that I win this," Manzi said. "I've never been able to win it. I'm close enough now that I think it's sewn up. Tony Morgan turned the heat up in Dover, but I'd be a little worried about tugging on Superman's cape. I don't think Morgan could beat me if I keep working at it."

Manzi is the second dash-winning driver of all time with 11,391 victories, but has never taken home the title of season's leader. Although his personal best of 687 wins was in 1989, it was not enough to beat Herve Filion's 814. Manzi was a bridesmaid again in 1990, with 641 wins to Filion's 660, and in 2004, with 651 wins to Dave Palone's 670.

"I am very lucky to still be healthy enough to drive well," he said. "I've never driven any better. Maybe because I'm older, more mature. I don't know why, I'm just doing better. I'm proud of what I've done."

Since he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001, Manzi has produced the highest earnings of his career. He is having the best money season of his life in 2005 with nearly $8.3 million in purses won through December 9, shattering his previous best of $7.6 million in 2004. His biggest paychecks at the Meadowlands this season came with victories in the $700,000 William R. Haughton with Dr No and $300,000 Nat Ray with Hellava Hush, and a third-place finish in the $1.5 million Hambletonian with Muscle Memory. But he has yet to capture either of the track's signature events, the $1 million Meadowlands Pace and $1.5
million Hambletonian.

"I don't have any special goals," he said. "Anything that happens now is great. I'd love to win the Hambo. There are a few things I'd like to do, but they're not pressing on my mind.
I don't know really when I will retire. I'm sure the end is out there, but I'm not concerned with it. When it happens, I'll know."

While he has never captured the Meadowlands driving title, Manzi has been a nightly presence since the track opened its doors in 1976. He is on course to push Bill O'Donnell out of third-place on the list of all-time Meadowlands career victories and earnings by the end of the year. The Catskills native has earned titles at Monticello, Liberty Bell Park, Garden State Park and a record 17 at Freehold. Manzi resides in Freehold with his wife, Ellen, and their children: Matthew, Timothy and Jane.