Diamond Head ($3.70) and driver Justin Huckabone won the featured $10,417 conditioned pace at Vernon Downs on Friday, May 16.
Huckabone went straight to the front with Diamond Head and led to the first quarter in :26.4. He stole a :29 second-quarter breather and reached the half in :55.4 then cruised to three-quarters in 1:23.4. As the field entered the stretch, the battle was on as co-favourite Southwind Sandor (Jeff Gregory) went first-up and challenged for the lead. Diamond Head dug in as Southwind Sandor kept coming and secured the win in 1:51.3 by a quarter of a length. Go With The Flow (Frank Affrunti) rounded out the top three finish order more than five lengths behind.
Diamond Head is an eight-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere. Owned by Matthew Dugan and trained by Brielle Roman, he now has four (consecutive) wins from seven seasonal starts.
Live harness racing resumes at Vernon Downs on Saturday, May 17, with a post time of 5:05 p.m.
(With files from Vernon Downs)