Bar Hopping ($2.60, part of entry) and Flowers N Songs ($18.40) proved victorious in their respective main events of the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial for three-year-old trotters on Sunday (July 24) evening at Vernon Downs.
Bar Hopping used an aggressive middle move to seize command in the $300,000 Zweig main event for colts and geldings, brushing from fifth and clearing just after a :57 half mile. The son of Muscle Hill would go on to face pressure from Hititoutofthepark (Corey Callahan) on the far turn, but edged clear upon straightening for home. Bar Hopping subsequently held sway of a late bid from pocket rival Milligans School (Andy Miller) to prevail by one and a half lengths in 1:53.1. Milligans School narrowly held second from Love Matters (Brett Miller) and the levelled-off Hititoutofthepark, who shared third in a dead heat.
Tim Tetrick drove Bar Hopping, now a three-time winner, for trainer Jimmy Takter and owners Christina Takter, the Hatfield Stables, Marvin Katz, and Al Libfeld.
In the $140,000 Zweig event for fillies, Flowers N Songs vaulted off third-over cover to eclipse 5-4 favourite Womans Will for a 1:53.4 victory. Yannick Gingras settled well off the pace with the Deweycheatumnhowe filly, floating off the pegs at race's midpoint to stalk cover provided by Womans Will (Andy Miller) and Fad Finance (Jim Morrill Jr.). In upper stretch, Flowers N Songs circled four-wide, finding her best stride at the eighth-pole and slingshotting clear to a one and three-quarter length victory over the aforementioned pair. Womans Will narrowly held second, while Fad Finance stayed on for third.
Paul Reid trains seven-time winner Flowers N Songs for Robert Key.
In the consolation divisions for colts and geldings, Sutton ($7.20, Andy Miller, 1:52.4) and Waitlifter K ($7.90, Matt Kakaley, 1:52.3) captured the winner's shares of the $75,000 and $30,000 events, respectively. Double Exposure ($3.70, Tetrick, 1:54.4) and Hillosophical ($44.80, David Miller, 1:53.4) proved victorious in the $35,000 and $15,000 consolation events for fillies.
The Zweig night undercard featured a pair of $60,200 New York Sire Stakes races for three-year-old pacing fillies, with Roll With Joe fillies No Clouds Bluechip ($13.20) and Dime A Dance ($4.50) both proving narrowly victorious.
No Clouds Bluechip yielded to 1-2 favourite Penpal (Pat Lachance) after a :56.3 half mile, maintaining a clear pocket trip through the far turn before vacating the pegs at the eighth-pole and duelling to a half-length win in 1:51.3 via a :26.3 last quarter. Scott Zeron drove the daughter of Roll With Joe and B Js Sunshine for trainer John Berger.
Dime A Dance rallied from farther off the pace in her event, sustaining strong uncovered gains on the far turn en route to a mid-stretch lead. Upon collaring Time On My Hands (Jason Bartlett), the daughter of Roll With Joe and Hat Dance Hanover was forced to stave off a late lunge from Angels Rockn Pink (Mark MacDonald), who split foes out of the pocket to just miss by a neck. Dime A Dance and driver Matt Kakaley prevailed in 1:53.3 for trainer Ron Burke.
(Vernon Downs)