Yankee Manny Wins Third Straight for Davis

The trotter Yankee Manny continued to display winning form in a 1:55.1 performance during Friday night's $10,000 featured seventh race at Vernon Downs.

Trainer Frank Davis was at the controls as the favorite Yankee Manny ($3.20) flashed to the front early in the week's Open-1 contest for square-gaiters and maintained his advantage to the finish, holding off the surging Mr. Avalanche by one-half of a length.

Friday's first-place finish was the third in a row for the 5-year-old son of Yankee Glide-Yankee Minuet, who now sports seven current victories and 18 lifetime tallies.

The career winner of $93,302 is owned by Brian Green.

The final time was 1/5th-of-a-second off the record mile that the bay gelding produced here last Friday.

Salome Marvel converted a pocket-sitting trip into a 1:56.2 triumph in Friday's $6,500 secondary feature, race nine, with Frank Milby doing the teaming for trainer John McNeil, III and owner Ben McNeil.

Rick Plano continued his hot hand, winning with the trotters L’Argent Hall (1:58.4) and Enlightened (1:58.3) to notch his 11th driving double of the meet, his sixth victory of the weekend and his 62nd after 74 current Vernon programs.

Driver Claude Huckabone, III and leading trainer Tracy Brainard also combined for a pair of first-place finishes during Friday's 10-race card.

DOWNS DOINGS - Conrad Zurich's promising sophomore trotter Petraeus earned his initial pari-mutuel victory with Howard Okusko, Jr., sitting in for his wife, trainer Jessica Okusko, guiding the son of Credit Winner-Lorrain Blue Chip to a 2:01.1 tally in Friday's sixth session... Saturday night's 10-race card, which includes the week's $10,000 Open-1 pace in race nine, will begin at 6:55 p.m... The Downs will continue with a Thursday-Saturday night schedule for the remainder of this month, before to switching to a Friday-Saturday slate during the first three weekends in November, ending this year's 90-card campaign on Nov. 19... Additional information regarding the track's 2011 season, its casino and newly-renovated hotel can be obtained at www.vernondowns.com, and on Facebook.