by Jay Bergman
East Rutherford, NJ — Mission Accepted and driver Yannick Gingras
converted on a perfect pocket trip to capture the $60,000 Vincennes Trot on
Saturday afternoon (Aug. 3) at The Meadowlands. The 4-year-old by
Manofmanymissions scored in a 1:50.2 clocking, his fastest in 16 career
victories.
Mission Accepted left
strongly from the start and cleared the lead before the :26.4 opening panel.
Gingras allowed Lindy The Great to secure the top on the backstretch, and that
one carved out middle fractions of :54 and 1:22.1 in front of a stalled outer tier.
Mission Accepted rallied
from the pocket into the stretch and drew off from former Hambletonian winner
Pinkman, who had to settle for second. World champion Homicide Hunter put in a
solid late rally, just missing the place spot and settling for third.
Ron Burke trains Mission
Accepted for owners Knox Services Inc. and David Willis. Sent off as a 5-1
offering, Mission Accepted returned $12.60.
Favorite Rich And
Miserable made a break early in the race and was no factor.
Of note, the first- and third-place
finishers — both trained by Ron Burke — raced without shoes in the Vincennes.
