The opening round of the Catherine Burton late-closing series shares centre stage with a $9,000 Open Trot on opening night at Vernon Downs, which is this Friday (April 22).

Also on Friday, the ‘Miracle Mile’ will unveil its new 50-cent Pick 5 wager in the last five races of the program.

A total of 22 trotters will contest a trio of Catherine Burton divisions on Friday night, each of which will carry a purse of $4,000. Among the standouts are Pompano invader Ado Duharas (Race 3, John Cummings Jr.), who enters off back-to-back wins; stakes-placed Love Crazy Love (Race 5, Gaetan Brunet), who took second in her New York Sire Stakes consolation as a two-year-old; and Royal Right (Race 11, Chris Lems), who was a stakes winner in Massachusetts during her freshman campaign.

The evening's top event is the $9,000 Open Trot, which has been carded as Race 9 on the 12-dash program. P L Houdini (Post 3) has been installed the 2-1 morning line favourite after three wins in his last five races, including a 1:55.4 triumph in an upper-level event at Pocono on April 9. John Cummings Jr. drives the five-year-old Kadabra gelding for trainer Mike Sinclair. Among his six rivals are Pounce K (Billy Davis Jr., Post 6), who will return to Vernon for defending training champion Dave Dewhurst, and 26-time winner A Penny Earned (Lems, Post 5), who proved a consistent contender in the local Open ranks throughout the past two seasons.

The 2016 season at Vernon Downs features a brand new wager to central New York: the 50-cent Pick 5. The wager will take place on the last five races of each program, with a carryover provision should no bettor correctly select all five winners. Additionally, a mid-card double has been slated for races five and six on a nightly basis.

Post time for the first of 84 programs this season at Vernon Downs is 6:45 p.m. EDT.

(Vernon Downs)