by Michael Chamberlain, Vernon Downs publicity

Vernon, NY — Crediama and Expressive Action were the big winners in the finals of the Empire Breeders Classic at Vernon Downs on Sunday night (June 8).

The $217,725 final for 3-year-old trotting fillies boiled down to a battle between the winners of the two eliminations on May 30.

Crediama stormed past Avalicious in the lane to win the 3-year-old filly trot final in 1:54.1.

Crediama (Tim Tetrick) actually sat in mid-pack behind the pacesetting Avalicious (Yannick Gingras) through the early fractions of :27.2 for the quarter and :57 for the half. Tetrick then guided Crediama into the outer flow entering the far turn and sat behind the live cover provided by Glowngold.

Once the field entered the stretch, Crediama got into the clear in the three-path and stormed past Avalicious in the lane to win the final in 1:54.1. Crediama (Credit Winner-Mama B) was bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, is owned by Purple Haze Stables LLC and trained by Trond Smedshammer.

The complete order of finish for the final was Crediama, Avalicious, Annie’s List, Beauty Of Gray, Glowngold, Slice Slice Baby, Winning Pursuit, Cutup Hanover, and Driving Miss Crazy.

In the $215,125 final for 3-year-old trotting colts, Expressive Action (Mike Simons) scored an impressive win in 1:54.1.

Expressive Action scored in 1:54.1 in the 3-year-old colt trot final.

The early stages of the race featured multiple lead changes between Expressive Action, Cash For Gold, and Cashamatic. Once Expressive Action wrestled control of the race from his rivals on the backstretch he was never really threatened again.

This race featured multiple horses going off-stride, including Karets, one of the elimination winners, who broke early and was never a factor, finishing eighth. Cash For Gold went off-stride in the final eighth of a mile and ended up being disqualified from sixth to seventh for interfering with Cashamatic.

Expressive Action (Conway Hall-Yetta’s Angel) was bred and is owned by John Grasso Stable Inc. John Grasso is the trainer.

The complete order of finish for the final was Expressive Action, Wild And Crazy Guy, Hallanet, Daley Lovin, Rocky De Vie, Cashamatic, Cash For Gold, Karets, and Crazzycrazzy.

There were also three division of the New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacing colts. The first of these was won by Jeneral Patton (Tim Tetrick), who set a track record for 3-year-old colts at Vernon Downs, finishing in a time of 1:49.4, which eclipsed the old track record of 1:50 set by Fool Me Once. Jeneral Patton (Art Major-Time N Again) is owned by Kenneth Jacobs and trained by Linda Toscano.

Tetrick and Toscano also teamed up on the winner of the second division of the New York Sire Stakes with El Bloombito, who paced the mile in 1:51. El Bloombito (American Ideal-On The Arm) is owned by Stake Your Claim Stable, Camelot Stable Inc. and Fred Wallace.

The third division went to the heavily-favored All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley) in 1:50.2. All Bets Off (Bettor’s Delight-Armbro Penelope) is owned by Burke Racing Stable, Frank Baldachino, The Panhellenic Stable Corporation and Rosemary Shelswell. The trainer is Ron Burke.

Fotowon photos

Fireyourguns lowered the all-age Vernon track record to 1:48.

The night also featured the fastest mile ever paced at Vernon Downs in its 61-year history. The track record of 1:48.3 had been held by He’s Gorgeous and was set in 2012. The third race of the night was an Open Pace and Fireyourguns (Jim Morrill Jr.) not only set the new record, he topped it by three-fifths of a second, covering the mile in 1:48.

It was a dazzling performance by the 8-year-old gelding with fractions of :25.3 for the quarter, :52.4 for the half, and an eye-popping 1:19.3 for three-quarters.

Fireyourguns is owned by Terrence McClory and Jennifer and Robert Lowe. McClory is the trainer of the new record-setter.

Live racing will return to Vernon Downs on Thursday night with a nine-race program. Post time on Thursday night is 6:45 p.m.