Artic Byrd produced a very impressive victory in a speedy time of 1:50.2 in Thursday’s $8,000 feature race at Vernon Downs.
The win was the second straight for Artic Byrd, owned by Donn Lewandrowski and Gail Farrell of Poland, New York.
Artic Byrd had picked up a win on May 1 over a sloppy track, but the fast going on Thursday night also appealed to the roan mare. Trainer-Driver Truman Gale was very patient through the first three-quarters of a mile, sitting in behind the pacesetter, Elleofnxample. That foe set strong fractions :26.1, :54.3 and 1:22.3, and it appeared that she was going to go all the way to victory, but those fast fractions might have cost her in the stretch as she drifted away from the inside of the track into the two-path.
In doing so, it allowed Gale to send Artic Byrd right through on the inside and up in time for a victory by a length. The remainder of the finishers in the Thursday feature were Market Dynamics, Day To Ponder and Steuben Ruthless.
Three drivers shared top honours on the Thursday night program with two winners. Aaron Byron, John MacDonald, and Jimmy Whittemore all had two wins apiece.
(Vernon Downs)