by James
Witherite, Vernon Downs racing media
Vernon, NY -- A
pair of $10,000 Open events are among the highlights at Vernon Downs this week,
along with the opening rounds of the Catherine Burton and Anthony Farina
late-closing series.
Friday (April 24)
evening's Open Trot attracted a field of seven, and has been carded as the
evening's seventh of twelve races. Howard Gill's War Hero (2-1 morning
line) has been assigned the outside post after his 4-1/2 length win in last
week's Open Trot, turning in a 1:55.2 effort in his seasonal debut.
Howard Okusko, Jr. once again will handle the driving duties for trainer
Jessica Okusko. Among those looking to defeat the seven-year-old Ken
Warkentin gelding are Grey Ice (8-1 ML, Jimmy Whittemore), who set the pace
last week before collared by War Hero, and Ozymandias (Roman Lopez), who
charged from the back of the pack to finish third. Last season's Trotter
of the Year A Penny Earned (Chris Lems) also comes back, looking to redeem
himself off a fourth-place effort in last week's Open. Joining the Open
ranks this week is Pounce K (3-1 ML, John MacDonald), who steps up off a 1:54.3
victory against upper-level conditioned company last week.
Additionally, four
divisions of the Catherine Burton trotting series are scattered throughout
Friday's card, scheduled as races 1, 3, 8, and 10. The speedy Write That
Down is the 9-5 morning line favorite in the third race, with Fern Paquet, Jr.
driving the four-year-old Crazed gelding. As a three-year-old, he was
placed in multiple Excelsior A events, and he took a 1:56 mark at Rosecroft as
well. Deadhead Royalty is a notable entry in the eighth race, rallying
stoutly to make up ample ground in his seasonal debut. The three-year-old
RC Royalty colt won two Excelsior B events as a two-year-old, had also boasts
four second-place finishes among his ten career starts. Howard and
Jessica Okusko team up once again as Deadhead Royalty makes his second start of
the year. The final division sees Kennel Browser ship in from Pompano,
bringing a 1:57.3 lifetime mark with him. The five-year-old Ken Warkentin
gelding has been installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite in his division,
and Roman Lopez will take the lines.
Saturday (April
25) evening's Open Pace is carded as the second of thirteen races on the
program, with last week's runner-up Ashley's Husband (post 5) leading the
select field of five. William Donovan's five-year-old Henry Clay gelding
was passed late by That'll Be the Rei in a 1:50.2 mile last week, holding
second while dispatched the 3-5 favorite. Fern Paquet, Jr. will be back
aboard for trainer Kyle Spagnola, and the 19-time winner has been installed as
the 6-5 morning line choice. JK Panache (post 4) joins Ashley's Husband
on the outside portion of the starting formation, having set a torrid pace last
week before he was collared in mid-stretch. Chris Lems handles the
driving duties once again for trainer Dave Dewhurst.
Two divisions of
the Anthony Farina pacing series feature seventeen entrants, and they are
programmed as races 6 and 9 on the Saturday card. Flight Again, owned,
trained, and driven by Truman Gale, has been installed as the 5-2 morning line
favorite in the first division, recently drawing clear for a 4-length triumph
over non-winners of two at Saratoga. Here Comes Thunder, owned, trained,
and driven by Frank Davis, is likewise the 5-2 morning line favorite in the second
division, beating $7,500 claimers at Saratoga earlier this month to tally his
fourth career win. He'll have to overcome the outside post 8 in his
division, along with a pair of Excelsior A contenders from last year in Hot
Lemonade (John MacDonald) and Sweet Bobbie (Chris Lems).
Post time on both
Friday and Saturday evening at Vernon Downs is 6:45 p.m. EDT.
