Newcomer Lord Burghley made his first Vernon Downs venture a winning one in Friday night’s $12,000 featured ninth race
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With Jack Rice doing the driving for owner and trainer Tracy Brainard, Lord Burghley ($4.40) raced on the lead throughout the week’s Miracle Mile-1 contest for representatives of the diagonal gait and drew off in the lane for a three-length victory. The career-best 1:54.2 performance resulted in the second win in succession, the sixth this season and the 16th overall for the nine-year-old bay son of Armbro Invasion-Lady Of Substance, who raised his career winnings to nearly $129,000.
Mystic Splendor continued his winning ways in the evening’s MM-2 confrontation, posting a front striding 1:56.3 victory in Race 8 that became his third first-place finish in succession and fifth in 2010. Howard Okusko, Jr. handled the reins for trainer Jessica Okusko, who owns the four-year-old trotting horse with Kenneth Finnerty.
In somewhat of a unique occurrence, Mystic Splendor’s older full-brother Electronic Chip (Giant Hit-Mystic Virtue) captured Friday’s seventh session with a fast-closing 1:58.1 mile. Okusko also did the steering for his wife, Jessica, the seven-year-old gelding’s lessee.
(Vernon Downs)