Open Pace, Coors Light Series set for Saturday at Vernon
May 14, 2004,by Jim Moran, publicity director, Vernon Downs
Vernon, NY — Current pacing kingpin Little Mister will try for a repeat Open win, while 26 participants in the opening round of the Coors Light Pacing Series will compete in other featured action during Saturday night’s 11-race live harness racing program at Vernon Downs.
During its daytime simulcast program, which begins at 10:30 a.m., the Downs will offer full-card wagering on nine different tracks, including Maryland’s Pimlico Racecourse, home of the 129th Preakness, which will be run at a mile and three-sixteenths.
Simulcast fans will be able to enjoy an $8.95 all-you-can-eat luncheon buffet in Vernon’s trackside Miracle Mile Room/Sports Bar from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m. The $1 million Preakness, second jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s “Triple Crown” is scheduled to start at 6:04 p.m. Vernon’s live harness program is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.
With Howard Okusko, Jr. driving for his father, trainer Howard, Sr., in last Saturday’s pacing headliner, Little Mister rallied from fourth with a three-wide move around Vernon’s final turn and accelerated through the homestretch to eek out a head victory over Landmark Honor. The 1:524 performance marked the first win in three current outings for the four-year-old son of Village Jove, who has earned $94,825 in his productive racing career for the Little Farm, his owner and breeder.
While Little Mister is a slight 5-2 early line favorite in the week’s top attraction for laterally-gaited equines, current track record holders Landmark Honor, second choice at 3-1, and Avon Rainy Road, last week’s third place finisher, will also receive strong wagering support in Saturday night’s ninth race.
All but six of the Coors Light Beer Series eligibles were entered for the initial preliminary leg, which was carved up into $2,500 divisions that will serve as the evening’s third, fifth and seventh events. The morning line picks include John Stark, Jr.’s Everything Matters in the third race, Gondon Rumpel’s Raining Again in the fifth, and Anna Kane’s Tough Summer in the seventh.
DOWNS DOINGS: Vernon is ready to offer televised wagering from 10 Thoroughbred and 12 different Standardbred tracks Saturday…Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones is the 8-5 morning line favorite to defeat 10 rivals in the Preakness…Landmark Honor and Avon Rainy Road share the 1:514 Vernon record for older pacing geldings with Snickers Hanover, who established the mark three years ago…Little Mister’s fast clocking last Saturday was a personal best win mark and just one tick of the timer off the swiftest mile of the meet, set by Hare Breath Harry on May 1…The Coors Light Beer Series will proceed through a second preliminary next Saturday (May 22) to a $6,500-added championship final on Saturday, May 29…Vernon is currently racing Thursday-Saturday nights through June 26.