A pair of late-closing series finals headline the week's racing action at Vernon Downs, while the speedy Bourbon Bay looks to reprise his track record effort at Tioga Downs in an Open trotting event.
Sunday (May 10) marks the first afternoon card at Vernon for the season, and the ten-race program is headlined by the finals of the Catherine Burton Trotting Series and the Anthony Farina Pacing Series.
The Burton final (race 7), carrying a purse of $15,400, attracted a field of eight trotters, all of whom raced in a pair of preliminary events. David Dewhurst trainee Hollywood Jess (post 1) is the likely favourite, having swept both her preliminaries and most recently battling stoutly for a 1:57 win. Chris Lems is listed to drive the three-year-old Conway hall filly. Other top contenders include Blue Skies Craze (post 6, Truman Gale), who comes in off a 1:56.2 win, and Act of Valor (post 2, Claude Huckabone, III), who sustained a rally from well off the pace for a 1:58.4 triumph last week.
The Farina final (race 9) will be contested for $11,900, with a full field of nine pacers slated to go to post. A pair of Homer Hochstetler trainees are likely to lead the charge, with Hot Lemonade (post 1, John MacDonald listed) in search of a series sweep. The three-year-old Rock N Roll Heaven filly showed strong late pace in a pair of preliminary wins, turning in 1:54.2 and 1:53.2 triumphs in her divisions. Her entrymate Speaking Out (post 8, Chris Lems listed) earned a 1:55.1 win from off the pace last week, improving well off a second-place effort in the first preliminary. Here Comes Thunder (post 3, Frank Davis) also seeks to play a major role, staying on for strong second- and third-place finishes in both preliminaries, chasing Hot Lemonade on both occasions.
While late-closing finals headline action at Vernon, a pair of $14,000 Open events share top billing in the Southern Tier at Tioga Downs. Saturday (May 9) evening's Open Trot features the return of Bourbon Bay (2-1 morning line favourite), who sprinted clear to a 1:52.1 victory in last week's Open. As a result, he broke the track record for trotters, previously held by top distaffer Charmed Life. Lessee John Cummings, Jr. once again will handle the driving duties for trainer Megan Wilson.
Open pacers vie for $14,000 in Sunday (May 10) afternoon's feature at Tioga, with western New York standout Fireyourguns (post 1, Aaron Byron listed) squaring off against Prairie Jaguar (post 2, Jim Marohn, Jr.) and stakes winner Unlocked (post 5, Brandon Simpson). Fireyourguns won his seasonal debut at Buffalo last week, wiring Open company in 1:53.3, while Prairie Jaguar steps up to the open ranks off his local 1:51.4 victory. Unlocked won 6 of 18 races as a three-year-old, including the $145,000 Langley stake at Balmoral last September. The Erv Miller trainee makes his local debut off a sharp 1:53.3 qualifier at Harrah's Philadelphia.
Live racing at both Vernon and Tioga now takes place on Friday and Saturday evenings, along with Sunday afternoons. Vernon post times are 6:45 (evenings) and 1:15 (Sunday afternoons), while Tioga races at 6:15 (evenings) and 1:30 (Sunday afternoons).
(Vernon/Tioga Downs)