by Michael Chamberlain, Vernon Downs Publicity
Some Or Lis (Lis Mara-Grabbersome) was the longest shot on
the board in the $7,200 feature race at Vernon Downs on Saturday night, but
that did not prevent him from storming past the entire field to score an upset
win in 1:51.4. The early stages of the race featured a speed duel between You
Bet Your Glass (Frank Davis) and I Do Hanover (Chris Lems), who was parked on
the outside for the majority of the mile. Those two set some fast fractions
early on, covering a quarter in 25.4 and a half in 53.4. That early speed ended
up being the undoing of the duo, both of whom finished out of the top three.
After hitting three quarters of a mile in 1:22.4, You Bet Your Glass and I Do
Hanover faded in the stretch and Some Or Lis (Claude Huckabone III) came all
the way from last in the field of six at the top of the stretch to win at 20-1.
The second-longest shot in the field, The Green Knight (John MacDonald) at
14-1, finished second. The exacta ended up paying $240 with the two longshots
comprising it. Buckeye Baddler (Truman Gale) sat behind the early
speed battle in third position and started to rally through on the inside
in the stretch as the leaders fell back, but the closers also passed him by and
he had to settle for third. The complete order of finish was: Some Or Lis, The
Green Knight, Buckeye Baddler, I Do Hanover, You Bet Your Glass, and
Stonebridge Master. Some Or Lis is owned by Richard Dow of Holland Patent, New
York and trained by Stephen Marsh.
The driving star of the night was John MacDonald who scored
three victories and three seconds on the 11-race program. He was a winner with
Bandini in the 1st race, MacKenzie's Bliss in the 7th race, and That's Ideal in
the 9th race. He was second with The Green Knight in the 2nd race, Beignet in
the 8th race, and Tactical Attack in the 11th race.
No live racing on Thursday with a concert being held by
Jerrod Niemann and Love & Theft. The concert benefits The Food Bank of
Central New York. Tickets are available for $15 and the Chairman of American
Racing and Entertainment, Jeff Gural, will be personally donating $10 for every
ticket sold to the Food Bank of Central New York with a goal of raising
$100,000 to benefit the Food Bank.
Live racing will resume at Vernon Downs on Friday, July 4
with a 6:45pm post time. The Friday program will feature the first leg of the
Racing Under Saddle Series. There will be a special July 4th Fireworks Display
following the conclusion of the live racing program.
