No Monkeys Allowed used a 3 wide move and a deep stretch burst to take victory at the harness racing meeting at Vernon Downs on Saturday night .
Big Jer with pilot Mike Merton pressed for the lead early thru a 25.4 opening quarter.
Before the half was complete, Fern Paquet, Jr. and Golden Receiver rallied alongside to challenge for the top spot in 55.
Big Jer was able to fight off a tiring Golden Receiver to the 3 quarters in 1:22.3, but that's when driver Greg Merton and the Sparky Clarke trained No Monkeys Allowed used his 3 wide move off a 3rd over trip to chase down and wrangle Big Jer in 1:50.4.
The win was No Monkeys Allowed 2nd in a row at Vernon and his 4th win in his last 6 starts.
It was also the 2nd of the night for trainer Edgar "Sparky" Clarke as his other trainee Gold Star Spike scored an earlier victory which was likewise piloted by Greg Merton.
The win was Greg Merton's 4th of the night.
Driver John MacDonald picked up 2 victories (Shock N Rock, Damon Blue Chip) on tonight's card leaving him just 3 triumphs shy of 3,000 career wins
His next chance to join the 3,000 club will come when Live racing returns to Vernon Downs on Wednesday (September 30) evening, with the first of 10 races due off at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time.
Jason Bluhm