by James Witherite, Vernon Downs racing media

Vernon, NY — White Bliss ($2.60), the rare white Standardbred which drew $240,000 from Knutsson Trotting, Inc. at the 2013 Harrisburg sale, broke his maiden on Saturday (July 25) evening at Vernon Downs.

Fotowon photo

White Bliss, the white standardbred who brought $240,000 as a yearling, broke his maiden on Saturday night at Vernon Downs.

The 3-year-old Art Major colt left strongly from post eight, settled into the pocket behind DW’s Bullet through a :28.3 quarter, and subsequently brushed to the fore upon reaching the backstretch. After rating a 1:00.1 middle half, Oskar Florhed opened up the advantage with White Bliss, pulling clear to defeat DW’s Bullet by 4-1/4 lengths in 1:56.3.

Åke Svanstedt trains White Bliss, who accelerated home in :27.4 to record his first career victory.

Drivers Truman Gale and Chris Lems each recorded three wins on the evening’s 12-race program. Gale prevailed with mid-price victors Glorious Winner ($18.20, 1:56.3), Sucrose Hanover ($12.20, 1:52.3), and Ozymandias ($14.40, 1:56.2), while Lems teamed up with the more strongly backed Drinksforthehouse ($7.60, 1:55), Vintage Fenom ($5.20, 1:54.2), and RG Riptide ($6.60, 1:54).

Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Sunday (July 26) afternoon, with the Zweig Memorial for 3-year-old trotters headlining the day’s on-track action. Post time is 1:15 p.m. Eastern time.