Gym Tan Laundry and Lady Andi earned champion status as a result of their respective divisional victories in Friday night’s $383,000 Kindergarten Classic Series finals for two-year-old trotters at Vernon Downs
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Gym Tan Laundry ($5.40) lowered his personal record and the track’s standard for freshman geldings on the diagonal gait to 1:55.3 with his bold-striding score in Friday’s $200,500 fifth race while Lady Andi ($4.90) dropped her win-mark to 1:57.3 with a splendid performance over eight female rivals in the $182,500 seventh session.
Brian Sears, who drove both title-winning trotters, also finished first with the trotter Unshakeable in race nine to earn his second driving triple at the 83-program meeting.
Gym Tan Laundry, who had lowered the Vernon record for frosh high-stepping geldings to 1:57.1 with his preliminary round tally at Vernon on Oct. 21, rallied overland from fourth in the early going to gain control of the male division in the final turn, and continued on to a two-length triumph over the crowd favourite Vic Smith, part of a Julie Miller-trained entry that included Southwind Austin, who finished third.
Friday’s first-place finish gives the consistent son of Yankee Glide-Fresh Face a 4-2-1 summary line and earnings of $146,917 after seven career outings for the Adam Victor & Son Stable.
Favourite Lady Andi got away third in her flight, advanced to second at the half (reached in :58.3), took the lead nearing the three-quarter mark and raced on to a 1-3/4 length victory over the third choice, Cant Have My Moni. All In The Muscles finished third, with the second betting choice, Maven, finishing fourth.
Lady Andi, whose previous win occurred at Vernon earlier in the season, improved her season’s current performance line to 2-2-4 and bankroll to $139,988 after 11 appearances for the M&L Stable of Delaware, Inc. and the Little E LLC Stable of New York City. Larry Rathbone trains the brown daughter of Andover Hall-Lady Lifter.
The Ray Schnittker-trained and driven Winning Fireworks converted a pocket-sitting trip into a 1:56 triumph in Friday’s $10,000 eighth event, the week’s Open Trot. The brown son of Credit Winner-Fireworks Hanover closed quickly in the stretch to defeat the Julie Miller-trained favourite, The Chancellor, by 1-1/2 lengths. It marked the fifth current victory (first at the Downs) and ninth lifetime tally for the career-winner of more than $282,400, who is also owned by the Adam Victor & Son Stable.
(Vernon Downs)