On what turned into a rainy, sloppy night at Vernon Downs, Royalist was a front-running winner in leg two of the Racing Under Saddle Series.
Royalist (Rc Royalty-Chocolatto Chip) was sent right to the front from the outside post by Michelle Crawford and the colt never looked back. He led through fractions of :29.1 for the quarter, 1:02 for the half, and 1:33.1 for three-quarters. A challenge did materialize from Blue Boy Yankee (Kristina Smith), who pestered the leader throughout the final quarter mile, but could never quite get by. The final time for the mile was 2:04.3.
The complete order of finish was: Royalist, Blue Boy Yankee, John Michael, Vassar Hall, My Irish Molly, and Kash Now.
Royalist is owned by Raymond W.J. Campbell Jr. of Belchertown, Massachusetts and trained by George Ducharme.
The top point-getters from the first two legs of the Racing Under Saddle Series at Vernon Downs will return for the $5,000 Final on August 29.
The featured pari-mutuel race of the Saturday evening at Vernon Downs was the $6,500 seventh race. The winner was Moonlight Ransom (Artiscape-Windsun Caprice), driven by John MacDonald. This was the second win in a week for Moonlight Ransom.
In similar fashion to the win on August 9, Moonlight Ransom was a gate-to-wire winner. He led through snappy fractions over a sloppy track of :26.2 for the quarter, :56-seconds for the half, and 1:25.1 for three-quarters. The final time was 1:53. Market Force (Jimmy Whittemore) was forced four-wide at the top of the stretch and still managed to charge through the lane and win a close photo for second place. Oh My Joepa (Claude Huckabone III) finished third.
The complete order of finish was: Moonlight Ransom, Market Force, Oh My Joepa, Whitemountainpower, You Bet Your Glass, A Fool For Mark, Axiom Hanover, and Dutch Richman.
(Vernon Downs)