Golden Gun (Josh Kinney) holds off late charge by Jds Brent N Sheree to capture the featured pace ($6,500) at Vernon Downs on Saturday (August 25).
Golden Gun ($82.00) went straight to the front controlling all the fractions (:27.0, :55.3, 1:23.3, 1:51.1). Jds Brent N Sheree followed the whole way until they reached the top of the stretch.
The two would trade blows all the way down the stretch. Oh My Joepa (John MacDonald) went three wide to join the pair in deep stretch. When it looked like Jds Brent N Sheree would go by, Golden Gun dug down deep and found something extra to win by a nose at the line.
Jds Brent N Sheree settled for second with Oh My Joepa getting third money.
Golden Gun is owned by The Wiz Kids Stables and trained by Jeff Sorenson. He is an 8-year-old gelding by Headmaster. It was his third win in 2018. He now owns 27 career victories.
Jimmy Whittemore drove two winners on the night. He got his wins with Major Starlight ($2.50) and Release The Terror ($3.70). He still has the most driving wins on the season.
After Saturday's racing he now leads all drivers with 77 wins. Three time defending driving wins champion John MacDonald is second with 67 wins. Claude Huckabone III is third with 36 wins. Truman Gale is in fourth 35 tallies. Leon Bailey rounds out the top five with 31 wins.
MacDonald and Whittemore are also battling for the training wins title as well. MacDonald is in first with 35 wins with Whittemore second best getting 30 victories so far. Homer Hochstetler is third on the list with 24 wins. Misty Carey is fourth best with 22 tallies. Dan Daley has the fifth spot with 20 wins.
Vernon Downs returns to live racing with two divisions of the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) for 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings. Post time for the nine race card is 6:10.
For more information go to www.vernondowns.com
by John Horne, for Vernon Downs