Leon Bailey furthered his quest for a threepeat as the leading driver at Vernon Downs as he extended his lead in the 2026 standings with five victories on the 15-race Sunday, July 12 card.
He summoned Commonwealth Ave ($13.14) from the pocket on the final turn and rallied her to a career-best 1:54.2 victory in the opener. Vel Who Said ($7.04) gave the reinsman his second win with a gate-to-wire 1:55.3 effort in the fourth, and Bailey made it a triple as he steered Girlonthebillboard ($4.94) to victory in 1:56.2 in similar style in the ninth. A dominant Ideal Artillery ($2.10) made it a grand slam for his pilot in 1:55.1 in Race 12, and Bailey added a fifth tally in the finale as Mattucci ($13.04) scored in 1:55.
Bailey has 59 wins at Vernon this season, giving him an advantage of 23 over second-placed Chris Long. The leading reinsman is 164-for-905 across all tracks this year after his best season to date in 2025.
Sharp Seven and Bluesville captured the $10,563 featured conditioned events.
Reigning New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) champion Sharp Seven ($2.58) went out for a successful tightener, rallying from fifth to victory in the trot. Lous Lancelot (James Lackey) led to the quarter in :28.3, then was joined by Highexitvelocity (John MacDonald) as they headed to the half in :59. Those two clashed to three-quarters in 1:28.1, with Sharp Seven, driven by Frank Affrunti, out on the cover of the first-over challenger. Sharp Seven shifted three-wide coming off the last turn and flew down the stretch to a two-length win in 1:56.1. Tiktok Roy (Chris Long) fired late to finish second over What A Mission (Michael Miller).
Sharp Seven is now two-for-six on the season and has finished second in two NYSS legs. George Ducharme trains the sophomore daughter of Chapter Seven-Lookin Sharp for Purple Haze Stables LLC. The filly has seven career wins in 17 starts.
Bluesville ($8.66) went first-over to win the pace for trainer-driver Ron Harp. Gregory (Jimmy Whittemore) was on top through opening fractions of :27 and :56.1 with Bluesville sitting third until making his move heading to three-quarters in 1:24.1. Bluesville passed Gregory in the stretch, then resisted Three In Heaven A (Chris Long) by a length to score in 1:52.1. Gregory finished third. Bluesville, a seven-year-old gelding by Huntsville-Dontcrymetheblues, is owned by Big Sky Ranch. He is now two-for-nine this season and has won 27 of his 111 career starts.
Vernon Downs will host its next card on Friday, July 17 with a first post time of 5:05 p.m.
(Standardbred Canada & Vernon Downs; photo of Leon Bailey from a prior win)