from harness publicists across North America

Saturday’s (Sept. 27) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Colonial Downs, Yonkers Raceway, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Vernon Downs and Batavia Downs.

Vertigo Hanover remains perfect at Colonial Downs meet

New Kent, VA — By winning Saturday’s featured event in wire-to-wire fashion, Vertigo Hanover has yet to see the back end of a pacer in his trio of victories during the early stages of the Colonial Downs fall harness meet.

Coady Photography

Vertigo Hanover (No. 1) held off Mobil Big John by a head at the wire.

The 8-year-old The Panderosa gelding has led every step of the way in each of the three, but a step up in class Saturday made the effort much more interesting than the prior pair.

Vertigo Hanover earned 5-1/2 and 3-3/4 length wins last week in a C-2 conditioned pace but the move to a C-1 Handicap Saturday resulted in a photo at the wire with fast closing Mobil Big John. A head separated the winner and runner-up.

After early fractions of :28.1, :57 and 1:24.3, driver Chuck Perry encountered Corey Braden’s Mobil Big John in mid-stretch and the duo battled in the final one-eighth. After his C-2 triumphs in 1:52 and 1:52, respectively, Vertigo Hanover crossed in 1:52.2 Saturday and gave trainer/owner Henry Lewis his fifth win in eight starts this year with the consistent pacer.

Colonial Downs presents an 11-race card on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. An $18 Family ‘n Friends 4-pack coupon for Sunday’s races is at www.colonialdowns.com.

— Darrell Wood

Yonkers Raceway
P H Supercam (Jason Bartlett, $2.60) fooled no one Saturday night, winning Yonkers Raceway’s $44,000 Open Handicap Pace. Odds-on from post position No. 5, he had the field at his feet at every (:27.2, :56.3, 1:24.4, 1:52) pylon. The final margin was two lengths over a chasing McErlean (Eric Goodell), with Fameous Western (Larry Stalbaum) a ground-saving third. Pancetta (Eric Abbatiello) and Take It Back Terry (George Brennan) closed for the minor awards. For P H Supecam, a 7-year-old Million Dollar Cam gelding owned by Bamond Racing and trained by PJ Fraley, it was his eighth win in 29 seasonal starts. The exacta (two wagering favorites) paid $7.80, with the triple returning $48.80.

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
Trotter Wind Of The North and pacer Aslan won the $25,000 featured Preferred races on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The Preferred Trot was named the Fred Yaggi Memorial Trot in honor of a longtime Pennsylvania harness racing commissioner who recently passed away. In that race Wind Of The North (Cantab Hall-Talk To The Wind), a 4-year-old gelding from the Clifton Green barn, used a second-over trip and a strong closing kick to upend favored Classic Martine by a head for the win in 1:52.2 at 10-1. Simon Allard did the driving. Arch Madness finished third. In the Preferred Pace, Aslan (Mach Three-Skyview) was overpowering on the front end with Andrew McCarthy in the bike for trainer Tony O’Sullivan. The 5-year-old gelding and 7-5 favorite won by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:50.1. Musselsfrombrussels was best of the rest in second while Golden Receiver picked up the show.

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
Panocchio (No Pan Intended) continued his recent dominance of the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino and Raceway on Saturday night. After scoring victories in the previous two Opens, Panocchio was assigned the outside post in Saturday’s $17,000 feature and was dismissed at odds of 6-1. Getting away last, Panocchio sat patiently before following the cover of the race’s favorite Ronny Bugatti (Austin Siegelman) as he came after pacesetting Bet On Roulette (Wally Hennessey). In a third quarter contested in :27.2, Bet On Roulette and Ronny Bugatti battled stride for stride while Panocchio waited to make his move, doing so in the final eighth of a mile before getting up to win in 1:51.3. It was the third straight victory in the Open for Panocchio and sixth win against the track’s top pacers this season for the Jimmy Mattison-trained 4-year-old. Panocchio, who was piloted by his regular driver Gerry Mattison, returned $14.80 to win. Bet On Roulette was the Open’s runner-up for the fourth straight week while Ronny Bugatti earned the show spot.

Vernon Downs
Colby Jate (Jate Lobell-Cam Press Shania) scored the victory in the $10,000 featured pace on Saturday night at Vernon Downs. Colby Jate (Aaron Byron) did not have an easy time getting to the front as there was a four-way fight for the early lead. Only No Monkeys Allowed (Fern Paquet Jr.) did not try to get to the front in the field of five. However, once Colby Jate got to the front, matters were pretty much resolved. He proceeded to lead all the way around the racetrack. The fractions were fairly fast, as well, as Colby Jate went the quarter in :25.4, the half in :54.2 and three-quarters in 1:22.3. JK Panache (Chris Lems) tracked the leader from the pocket, but was never able to get closer than a length away in the stretch. The final time for the mile was 1:50.4. Colby Jate is owned by Friendship Stables LLC. The trainer is Mike Watson. The complete order of finish was Colby Jate, JK Panache, Avantage, No Monkeys Allowed, and Moonlight Ransom. The C.K.G. Billings Series for amateur drivers returned to Vernon Downs on Saturday night as well. It was a similar story to the feature as the winner went to the front right away and stayed there all the way. However, Armstead Kyra (Muscle Mass-Paus Awhile) was far from the favorite in the field, going off at 43-1 and paying $89 to win. Even with the favorite Choke Hold (Vladimir Melnichenko) finishing second, the exacta paid a whopping $882. Armstead Kyra was driven to victory by Matt Zuccarello in a final time of 1:56.1. The fractions were :27.3 for the quarter, :58.1 for the half and 1:26.3 for three-quarters. Armstead Kyra is owned by Brenda Messenger and Scott Woogen. The trainer is Gary Messenger.

Batavia Downs
It was a pretty simple scenario in the Open Pace at Batavia Downs on Saturday night. Arguably the two best horses in the race slugged it out head-to-head and one was left standing. That one was Fireyourguns. Even-money post time favorite What The Sheik (Jim Morrill Jr.) went right to the front to take the lead, a move he hasn’t made since mid-August. He paced uncontested through pedestrian fractions of :28 and :57.3 before Fireyourguns (Mike Caprio) fired it up on the outside after getting away last. By the three-quarters, Fireyourguns was staring What The Sheik in the eye when Caprio popped the plugs and asked the 5-year-old American Ideal gelding for more. The pair paced around the far turn in tandem-style and battled through mid-stretch before Fireyourguns got to the tiring What The Sheik and paced home to win by an easy length in 1:54.2. The winner paid $6.40. Western Alumni (Jim McNeight), who sat second the whole mile, finished in the same spot and What The Sheik hung on for show.
It was the 11th win in 19 starts this year for Fireyourguns and boosted his 2014 earnings to $81,405 for owners Terrence McClory and Jennifer and Robert Lowe. The feature was one of the few races Jim Morrill Jr. didn’t win Saturday as he scored a five-bagger on the night. He won with Unicorn Hanover ($12.00) and Santanna’s Gal ($4.70) to take both halves of the early double ($24.40) and then continued to tally with Auditorial ($5.00), Yosemite Cam ($2.50) and Whipmeintoshape ($5.60). Dave McNeight III and Jim McNeight also registered consecutive driving doubles.