Unshakeable looked like a whirlwind during the final three furlongs as she breezed to a 1:56 victory in Friday night’s $10,000 Open Handicap Trot at Vernon Downs
.
Chris Lems kept Unshakeable ($43.20) in fifth to the half, timed in :57.4, as first newcomer Joe Page and, later, John Pauls Legacy displayed fast early foot. The four-year-old son of Andover Hall-Sister Sammy began to gear up nearing the five-eighths marker, then flew to the front around the final turn and raced on to a 1-1/4-length tally over the favourite, Joe Page. John Pauls Legacy, last Friday’s winner in this class, finished third.
The energetic showing resulted in the fifth Vernon victory, sixth this season and 11th lifetime for the career winner of $88,529, who is shared in ownership by Howard Okusko, Jr., Conrad Zurich and Wanda Polisseni’s Purple Haze Stables.
Unshakeable’s win was the 71st at the meet for trainer Jessica Okusko, who held a four win advantage over defending conditioning champ Tracy Brainard with one program remaining in the track’s 56th season.
Lems, who also won with Phillip Juran’s trotter Prestigiousvictory (2:00.4), chalked up his 15th double in 89 programs and earned a 91-90 edge over Howard Okusko, Jr. in the battle for second place in this season’s driving derby. Jimmy Whittemore, who secured his 121st local tally behind Brainard’s trotter Justice Wyoming (1:58.2), is the meet’s driving leader.
Brainard, Lems and driver Claude Huckabone, III were all credited with a pair of first-place finishes during the 10-race card.
(Vernon Downs)