Fern Paquet Jr. and Vacation Day survived a tight photo finish to take home Saturday night’s $16,500 featured Open Handicap Trot at Tioga Downs

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Leaving from post position number seven, Vacation Day did all the heavy lifting through fractions of :27.2, :57.2, and 1:26.2 before Samsawinner and Bruce Aldrich Jr. pulled from the pocket to challenge. Samsawinner laid it all down and halfway through the stretch poked a head in front, but Vacation Day was relentless and fought back on the wire to win in 1:56.2.

Vacation Day is a five-year-old son of Dream Vacation-Shutter Hanover, who is trained and co-owned by Jamie Paquet with In Front Racing. It was the second win in 12 starts this year for Vacation Day, who with the win increased his seasonal bankroll to more than $24,000. Samsawinner and Bruce Aldrich Jr. took home second, while Buck I D and Kyle Di Benedetto was third.

Tioga Downs continues live racing action from Nichols, New York on Sunday, May 15 with a post time of 1:30 p.m. and will feature the Simpson Stakes for three-year-old pacers along with its $10,000 guaranteed Pick 6 on the last six races of the afternoon.

(Tioga Downs)