Bet The Ranch, Sharpshootennorris and driver Josh Marks displayed fine form during Friday night’s 11-race program at Vernon Downs
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Bet The Ranch, owned by Edwin Gold and Conrad Zurich, clipped one-fifth of a second off of stablemate Diamond Stick Pin’s previous pacing best at the meet with a 1:53.3 victory for driver Howard Okusko, Jr. in Friday’s $9,000 co-featured eighth event, the weekend’s top test for female practitioners of the lateral gait.
Sharpshootennorris, shared in ownership by trainer Tracy Brainard and Gerard Stuchbury, recorded the fastest trotting mile of the three-night-old meeting with a 1:55 front-striding triumph in Friday’s $9,000 co-featured ninth event, the week’s Class A Miracle Mile test for representatives of the diagonal gait.
Marks, who drove Sharpshootennorris to his first season’s score, picked up five wins during the program to increase his current local victory total to 12. Marks earned the dash driving title here in 2008 and so far has a triple, a four-bagger and a five-win night in three Downs outings.
Brainard earned three training tallies during the evening, while Okusko and fellow reinsman Bill Bailey were each credited with a pair of first-place finishes.
(Vernon Downs)