by harness racing publicists across North America

Friday’s (Oct. 21) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Vernon Downs, Batavia Downs and Saratoga.

Sweet Thing sprints away, evades J A T O in Vernon trot

Vernon, NY — Homer Hochstetler and Robert Buddig’s Sweet Thing ($9.10) made every yard a winning one in Friday evening’s (Oct. 21) featured $11,000 Miracle Mile/Open Handicap Trot at Vernon Downs, evading local standout and odds-on favorite J A T O by 4-1/4 lengths to hand him a second straight Miracle Mile defeat.

Fotowon photo

Sweet Thing collects her third triumph in her last four trips to the post at Vernon Downs.

Fern Paquet, Jr. wasted no time putting the 4-year-old Chocolatier mare in play, sprinting to the fore and forcing Pop I (Harry Landy) into the pocket through a :27.2 first quarter-mile before rating a :56.3 half. While Sweet Thing used a :27.3 sectional through the far turn to amass four lengths of clearance on the field, J A T O (Chris Lems) had sustained first-over gains to take second from the weakening and subsequently breaking Pop I.

Despite J A T O’s best efforts to chase Sweet Thing, the pacesetter held clear while driven to a 1:53.3 victory. J A T O held second by half a length over Its Payday Friday (Ronnie Morales), who split foes at head-stretch to escape traffic and stay on up the pegs.

For Sweet Thing, the featured win was the 11th of her career and her third in four starts since returning to the Miracle Mile from Saratoga. Paquet’s featured win accounted for half of a driving double, a feat equaled by Truman Gale in the night’s late double.

Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Saturday evening (Oct. 22) evening; post time is 6:45 p.m.

— by James Witherite

Batavia Downs

On a night not fit for man nor beast, Shawn Gray and Who Says That overcame a day-long deluge of rain along with five fit female pacers to win the $9,500 Open mares featured pace at Batavia Downs on Friday evening (Oct. 21). Gray took Who Says That off the gate and tucked her in fifth along the pylons and was content to sit off the pace to the half-mile as My Tallia Ideal (Dave McNeight III) smoked that fraction in :57.4 over the rain-soaked track. At that point, Who Says That pulled and coaxed cover in the outer flow from last week’s Open winner, Dontch Remember (Jim Morrill Jr.) as the field passed the five-eighths marker and motored up the backside. When it became evident that Dontch Remember would not pace on, Gray tipped Who Says That three deep and proceeded to advance expeditiously. Fourth, third, second and finally first at the head of the lane; Who Says That splashed away from the competition and opened up a five-length lead before hitting the wire a wrapped-up winner in 1:57. My Tallia Ideal was second and the recently claimed Kaitlyn Akeeper (Kevin Cummings) brushed up to be third. Although it was the first win for Who Says That ($10.60) since Aug. 10, it was also her eleventh win of the year overall. The 5-year-old Badlands Hanover mare has now earned $57,557 in 2016 for owners Vogel & Wags Nags Stable, Chris Shambo and Jack Rice. The winner is trained by Maria Rice. Rice had a very profitable night at Batavia Friday as she conditioned three winners on the card. Besides Who Says That, she also sent Southwind Serenity ($5.70) and Lucky Pablo ($3.50) to the winners circle. Gray scored a driving triple teaming all of Rice’s entries. Ray Fisher Jr. also drove three winners, two of which were trained by John Hallett, who scored a stable double. Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Saturday night (Oct. 22) with the first post set at 6:15 p.m.

Saratoga

On Friday night (Oct. 21), Velocity Vespa (I Scoot Hanover) did what Velocity Vespa does. The 6-year-old standout scored a front-running win in the $16,000 Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The Rich Banca trainee loves the lead and driver Jimmy Devaux worked hard to get her there on a rainy night in the Spa City. Velocity Vespa was parked out early before Devaux went pedal to the metal going to the quarter-mile before the distaffer cleared the lead in a :27.2 opening panel. So Nice (Mark Beckwith) has been getting pocket rides behind Velocity Vespa seemingly for months and once again got the two-hole trip in Friday’s feature. After a breather in the second quarter, the race’s 3-2 betting favorite was put to the test and fought gamely before hanging on to win by the slimmest of margins in 1:54.3. Truth And Liberty (Stephane Bouchard) flew home and came up just shy of the victory as the runner up while So Nice earned the show spot. For Velocity Vespa, it was her incredible 18th win in 28 seasonal tries. The exacta and triple paid pretty well considering it was just a six-horse field as the exotics returned $23.60 (exacta) and $41.40 (triple). Velocity Vespa is well on her way to being named Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year at Saratoga as the winning machine has now tallied six victories in the local Open despite not making her seasonal debut until July. Live racing continues on Saturday night (Oct. 22) at Saratoga with a first post time set for 6:45 p.m.