The $500,000 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial for three-year-old trotters will be raced at Vernon Downs on the afternoon of Saturday, July 9.
The $310,000 open division (Race 9), features a match up of two of the top Hambletonian contenders in Branded By Lindy (Post 1, Yannick Gingras) and Fast As The Wind from the far outside post nine with Dexter Dunn aboard. These two colts emerged late in their freshman seasons and are off to promising sophomore starts.
Both of Branded By Lindy's 2022 races have been over the Vernon oval, a New York Sire Stakes win and a "free too late" second in the Empire Breeders Classic. The Lindy Farms' homebred son of Chapter Seven has been brought along carefully by trainer Domenico Cecere with focus squarely on the Hambletonian trophy.
Fast As The Wind has been the consummate racehorse throughout his career for trainer Tony Alagna. The son of Cantab Hall has been on the board in all five starts this season and was a handy winner of the Goodtimes Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park last month. Three-time defending U.S. Driver of the Year Dunn will need all of his considerable skill to overcome the poor post for owners Leblanc And Kribbs, Joe Sbrocco and Joseph Barbera.
The logical favourite for the $123,000 Zweig filly stakes (Race 8) is Jiggy Jog S (Post 2, Dunn), who comes in off a 1:54h win in the NY NY Mile at Yonkers Racewat for owner Jorgen Sparredal last Friday. Ake Svanstedt trains Jiggy Jog, as well as a second contender in Baptism, who he drove to an impressive 1:51.4 win in a division of the Reynolds Stakes at The Meadowlands last week. She is four-for-five this season for Diamond Creek Racing and Crossover Racing.
Yanaba carries the hopes of the home team in the filly race as local trainer Dan Daley puts her in the hands on Vernon "Favorite Son" Brian Sears for the filly Zweig. She's been razor sharp all season for Daley's wife Ann-Mari and partners Jared Daley and Oleg Ivutin.
Both the colt and filly stakes drew declarations enough to require consolations, which contain some very intriguing participants. Both Dan Patch freshman award winners, King Of The North and Venerable, will race in the colt and filly consolations respectively as they hone their form toward Hambletonian Day on Aug. 6.
Post time for the Zweig card is 12:15 p.m.
To view Saturday's complete entries, click here.
(Vernon Downs)