by Jim Moran, for Vernon Downs

Vernon, NY — Track record holder Enough Talk breezed to a 1:55.4 triumph in Thursday night’s (July 19) $10,000 Open Handicap Trot at Vernon Downs.

Matt Butcher, Jr. drove for trainer Paul Kelley in Thursday’s featured ninth race as Enough Talk eased off the starting gate last in the select five-horse field. The strong striding 4-year-old son of Enjoy Lavec advanced slowly but surely on the outside, grabbed the lead from Ginger Girl at the three-eighths marker and rolled to a 1-3/4 length victory. Ginger Girl held on for second, while The Big Cat closed for third.

A winner in 11 of 22 starts last season, many of those successes coming in New York Sires Stakes action, Enough Talk earned his second Vernon tally and third triumph in 10 current attempts for the Crossing Paths Farm, boosting his lifetime bankroll to $218,946. He established a 1:53.3 all-time, all-age local trotting standard in this class on June 28.

“(Enough Talk) is just a great individual, who does what’s asked of him,” said Butcher, who is proud of the bay gelding’s 1-1/8th mile world record performance at Rockingham Park last year. “Tonight, I waited until everyone else got settled and then just let him roll. He did the rest on his own; all I had to do was steer.”

Josh Marks, Jimmy Whittemore and Claude Huckabone, III, currently second, third and fourth, respectively, in Vernon’s dash-winning derby, each delivered driving doubles during Thursday’s 10-race card, while current leader Howard Okusko, Jr. picked up his 51st local score after guiding the Purple Haze Stable’s trotter Red Hot Kash to a 1:59.2 decision in the seventh session.

Downs Doings: Delcrest Luckygirl, Tallamore and Valley Crown each earned their fourth local wins on Thursday, tying Banker’s Lane, Rio Bravo Hall and Scorpion Moon for most trotting wins at the meet. The pacer Noah’s Art is tops in Vernon victories this season with five…Whittemore leads all local reinsmen in two-win showings at the meet with 11…The Downs will offer 11 races starting at 6:45 p.m. this Saturday night, including the week’s $10,000 Open Handicap Pace…The complex’s video gaming facility now operates from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday, while its daily simulcast sessions begin at 11:00 a.m.