by John Horne, for Vernon Downs

Vernon, NY — Purpose Blue Chip (Dan Daley) easily won the $5,100 featured trot at Vernon Downs on Friday night (July 6).

Fotowon photo

Purpose Blue Chip easily won the $5,100 featured trot on Friday night.

Purpose Blue Chip ($4.60) went gate-to-wire controlling all the fractions (:29.1, :58.4, 1:27.1, 1:55.1). Clive Bigsby (Jimmy Whitemore) followed in the pocket the whole way. He tried to make a late run but had to settle for second. First Call (Homer Hochstetler) finished third.

Purpose Blue Chip is a 3-year-old colt by Credit Winner. Trained by Dan Daley for owners Ann-Mari Daley, James Crawford IV, Richard Lombardo and Donald Brenner, Purpose Blue Chip won for the second time this season and the third time in his career.

Daley had a double on the night. He was also the driver and trainer for L Dees Courageous ($3.10).

Jimmy Whittemore and Leon Bailey each had driving doubles on the night. Whittemore leads all drivers in wins at Vernon Downs this season. He won Friday night with Sterling Davinci ($4.30) and Unusual Clarity ($5.00). Leon Bailey picked up wins with Williams Wish ($18.20) and Taco Tuesday ($4.60).

Vernon Downs returns to live racing on Saturday (July 7) with a 10-race card starting at 6:10 p.m. For more information go to www.vernondowns.com.