by James Witherite, Vernon Downs racing media
Fresh off his three-win Friday performance at Vernon Downs,
Fern Paquet, Jr. scored a driving grand slam on Saturday (October 11) evening's
12-race card.
The 46-year-old reinsman kicked off the card with an upset
victory, sustaining a first-over bid with Caiden's Colt ($24.80) for a 1:54.4
triumph in the $4,000 claiming opener. While he then would win the third
with 6-5 favorite Lilys Real Boy in 1:54.4 from off cover, his subsequent wins
came with minor upsets in mid-level conditioned events.
The sixth race saw Paquet team up with Yankees in Six
($25.60), rallying from last to circle the field in 1:53.2, while he and
Barbarian ($14.00) narrowly held off the pocket-sitting Fashion Shark to take
the seventh in 1:51.3. Consequently, Paquet's last two victories on the
card also gave Edgar "Sparky" Clarke a training double for the
evening.
While Paquet was the top driver for the evening, John
MacDonald took home the entire winner's share of the featured $6,500
upper-level conditioned pace (race eight), prevailing with Dragon Fever
($22.00) in 1:51.4. MacDonald owns, trains, and drives the four-year-old
Dragon Again gelding, who kicked to the lead from the pocket in mid-stretch,
staving off a late charge from 37-1 outsider UF Bettors Hanover (Justin
Huckabone). Odds-on favorite Superbowl Party (Chris Lems) pushed a taxing
pace while first-over, but faded badly while exiting the far turn.
MacDonald notched two other driving wins on the program,
winning with his own trainee Flyhawk Jester ($3.30) in dominant fashion,
beating first-level conditioned trotters by 13-3/4 lengths in 1:57, and also
piloting Eric Felter trainee Stony Brook ($13.20) to a 1:53.1 win in a
third-level conditioned pace.
Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Thursday, October 16,
with first post scheduled for 6:45 p.m. EDT.
