Like a fine wine, trotter Vesuvio Bi continues to get better with age. The four-year-old is in the midst of his best season and added another successful outing to his ledger with an easy-looking score in Flamboro Downs' Thursday night (November 1) feature.
With Travis Henry at the controls in the $8,500 Preferred 3 Trot, Vesuvio Bi was settled away in fifth while favoured Muscle Matters (Scott Young) fronted the field through :29.3 opening quarter. Henry right-lined Vesuvio Bi around the three-eighths mark to be the first in the outer flow, but flushed cover in the form of The Power Of Many (Robert Shepherd) as the half-mile mark flashed up in 1:00.1.
The Power Of Many towed Vesuvio Bi around the five-eighths turn and into the backstretch before Henry tipped his trotter three-wide approaching the third quarter. Muscle Matters was still in control at the third station, reached in 1:30.1, but shortly thereafter was confronted with a fresh threat as Vesuvio Bi loomed the danger first-over. Around the final turn. Vesuvio Bi confronted Muscle Matters and the early pacesetter had no answers for that challenge. Vesuvio Bi pulled away for the two-and-a-half length decision in 1:59.4 over the sloppy surface. Muscle Matters stayed for second with Bred For Greatness (Alfie Carroll) finishing third.
The win, capping a natural hat-trick for Henry, was the seventh on the campaign for Vesuvio Bi. The four-year-old son of Manyofmanymissions - Palm Beach Bi is trained by Martin Lachance for Lachance Racing Stable of Millstone Township, N.J. and Dan Mogridge of Hillsdale, Ont. The win total and $50,000-plus bankroll for Vesuvio Bi during his four-year-old campaign surpass the numbers from his two and three-year-old seasons combined.
To view the charted results for Flamboro's Thursday night card, click the following link: Thursday Results - Flamboro Downs.