Vernon Downs will kick off its first Wednesday racing card on July 11, and will feature two divisions of New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts. Fifteen sophomore trotters dropped in for Wednesday’s event, and it looks as if the two toughest drew separate divisions.

Ray Schnittker’s, Delano, drew Post 5 in the $66,718 opening division. The three-year-old son of Credit Winner is coming in off of back-to-back wins in NYSS, having captured legs at Buffalo and Yonkers Raceway. The colt has won all three NYSS events he has participated in this year. Schnittker and Delano have been given the nod as the 5-2 morning-line favourite in Race 7.

In the second division, 2-1 morning-line favourite Coraggioso opted not to go to the Yonkers Trot this past weekend and will look for his fifth win of the season on Wednesday evening. The son of Conway Hall was second to Archangel in the EBC final at Vernon Downs on June 1. Trainer-driver Phil Fluet will once again do the driving on Coraggioso for the partnership of Spadaro and Durkin from Post 2.

Vernon Downs kicks off its four days of live racing on Wednesday, July 11 with a first-race post time of 6:55 p.m. Vernon Downs will continue with a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday race schedule through the weekend of August 25.

(Vernon)