Aruba Vacation has been stabled at Tioga Downs since he began training for Guy Howard in his two-year-old season and has been a force to reckon with on his home turf. On Saturday night, the four-year-old son of Dream Vacation-Dixie Hit notched his first Tioga Downs win of the 2011 season in the $18,000 Open Handicap Trot
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Leaving aggressively from post position number two, driver Fern Paquet Jr. and Aruba Vacation relinquished the lead to Get Chipped (Michael Merton) and sat the garden spot through fractions of :27.3, :57.1, and 1:26.4.
As the field rounded the final turn, Paquet was tired of waiting and pulled the pocket and trotted right by the pacesetter on his way to an open length romp in 1:55.4. The mile was just a fifth of a second off of the current track record for four-year-old gelding trotters, held by Strong Hall and Barry Segal from 2009.
Howd That Feel (Jason Mac Dougall) found room late in the lane to pick up second, while Winbak Red (Phil Fluet) despite a tough first over grind hung on for third.
Owned and bred by the Howard Stables, Aruba Vacation notched his third win in 17 seasonal starts.
Tioga Downs continues live racing on Sunday, July 31 at 1:30 p.m., and will feature five divisions of the NYSS for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers.
(With files from Tioga Downs)