After time away from the races including stallion duty in Minnesota, Special Mission earned his first victory since the 2024 New Holland Trotting Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park as he topped the Open trotters at Vernon Downs on Friday, June 19.
Now racing at Vernon for locally based owner John Kokinos and trainer/driver Dan Daley, Special Mission made his second start since his return to the races this year a winning one, prevailing in a stretch battle of the favourites in the $11,806 Open Trot.
Riding a three-race win streak in the Open, Dewey Arnold (Jeff Gregory) went straight to the front and led the five-horse field through opening fractions of :28 and :57.2 before Special Mission made his move from the pocket midway around the final turn and went head-to-head with the front-striding 3-5 favourite at three-quarters in 1:25.3. Dewey Arnold and Special Mission continued to battle all the way down the stretch, with the latter surging 1-1/4 lengths clear late in the 1:54.2 mile. Sent postward as the 3-2 second choice after his runner-up finish last week to Dewey Arnold, Special Mission paid $5.10 to win. It was 11-1/2 lengths back to third-place finisher Forty Gs (Roman Lopez).
Special Mission, a seven-year-old Walner-Special Hill stallion and full sibling to 2022 Dan Patch Award-winning filly Special Way, now has 10 wins in 22 lifetime starts and $124,741 in earnings. Before surfacing at Vernon, he last raced on Aug. 12, 2024 at Mohawk.
Horsepeople at Vernon Downs all met in the winner’s circle at the start of Friday's races to honour the 17 horses that were lost in the horrible June 16 barn fire at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Live harness racing resumes at Vernon Downs on Saturday, June 20 with a post time of 5:05 p.m.
(Standardbred Canada with files from Vernon Downs)