Rival trotting fillies Manchego and Plunge Blue Chip, two of the season's top sophomores as well as the fastest three-year-olds in the long history of the breed, will both race at Vernon Downs on Friday (Aug. 17) in the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial trot but, in a somewhat surprising development, not against one another.

The connections of Manchego have picked up the mantle of Hambletonian winning filly Atlanta and entered their star filly into the $350,000 Open division (race nine), where she'll face eight colts.

Manchego, starting from post 2, deftly handled her competition in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks two weeks past with a 1:50 stakes record, marking the fifth consecutive winner of that race for the trainer-driver team of Jimmy Takter and Yannick Gingras. She is the highest money earner in the Zweig field with $362,222 in seasonal earnings and over $1.2 million career for owners Black Horse Racing, John Fielding and Herb Liverman.

She'll meet a solid group of colts led by Hambletonian final second-place finisher Mets Hall (Andy Miller) and the Hambletonian favourite Six Pack (Åke Svanstedt), whose magical mystery tour trip in the first heat resulted in his elimination.

Plunge Blue Chip goes as the probable favourite in the group of eight in the Zweig filly division. She became the fastest three-year-old trotter ever with a 1:49.4 nose win over Manchego in the Del Miller Memorial a month ago and followed with a third in the Hambletonian Oaks final. She races for the partnership of Svanstedt Stable, Blue Chip Bloodstock, Thomas Andersson and Rick Zeron.

The Zweig also fields a nine colt $80,000 second-tier division and the all-stakes card is completed by New York Sire Stakes events for freshman pacing fillies.

Post time for the program is set for 6:10 p.m.

(Vernon Downs)