Commencing his move upon exiting the far turn, M & L of Delaware and Victoria Dickinson's Dude's The Man worked to the fore in mid-stretch to capture the Memorial Day feature at Vernon Downs, a $10,000 Open/Preferred Pace.
A stakes contender at three, the four-year-old American Ideal entire kept well off the early pace, better than only the well-detached Damon Blue Chip through splits of :26.1 and :54.2 dictated by JK Panache (Truman Gale). As JK Panache left pocket rival Rock On Me (Dan Daley) behind on the far turn, Chris Lems angled Dudes The Man off the pegs, gearing up off the far turn into a :27 third quarter. Dudes the Man ultimately collared JK Panache in mid-stretch, holding off a late bid from 21-1 outsider Memory Game (Jimmy Whittemore) to prevail in 1:49.4 by three-quarters of a length. JK Panache faded to third upon giving way.
Jessica Okusko trains Dudes The Man, now a six-time winner. He paid $4.30.
Lems led all drivers with four wins on the 12-race card.
The 50¢ Pick 5 sequence stymied the Monday punters, chiefly on account of Western Toro's 16-1 upset in the eighth race. The carryover to Thursday evening's Pick 5 is $552.54. Post time for the first of nine races on Thursday at the Miracle Mile is set for 6:45 p.m.
(Vernon Downs)