Oh My Joepa (Rocknroll Hanover-Nittany Lion) returned to the
Vernon Downs Winner's Circle after the $6,500 feature event on Saturday night.
He had won two straight before finishing third last Saturday night.
Oh My Joepa (Claude Huckabone III) sat in mid-pack
throughout the early stages while You Bet Your Glass (Frank Davis) set the pace
through a quarter of 27.3 seconds and a half-mile in 56.3 seconds. Oh My Joepa
was able to catch some live cover from Western Tsunami (Roman Lopez) as the
field moved on to the final turn. In fact, Western Tsunami took the lead as
they paced past three-quarters in 1:25. That lead lasted into the stretch, but
then Oh My Joepa rallied past on the outside and strode away to win handily in
1:53.1. Martial Bliss (Joe Nassimos), who had been sent aggressively at the
start before settling into a pocket trip behind You Bet Your Glass, closed
smartly to finish second. Melvyn (Truman Gale) trailed early on, but was
another sharp closer at the end and finished third.
The complete order of finish was: Oh My Joepa, Martial
Bliss, Melvyn, Western Tsunami, The Green Knight, Dragon Fever, Cabbie's
Delight, and You Bet Your Glass.
Oh My Joepa is owned and trained by Michael Deters of
Coconut Creek, Florida.
Live racing resumes at Vernon Downs on Thursday night with a
12-race program. First post time is 6:45pm.
