The
swift-footed pacer Bells Are Ringing, and former track driving champion Jimmy
Whittemore shared the limelight at Vernon Downs on Thursday night (June 20).
Bells Are Ringing wins 4th straight with Jimmy Whittemore |
Bells
Are Ringing extended her meet-leading winning streak for representatives of the
lateral gait to four with a quick-striding 1:51.4 triumph in Thursday's $6,500
featured ninth event, while Whittemore won four of the evening's 12 races.
With
Whittemore doing the steering for trainer Neal Russo in Thursday's ninth
contest, Bells Are Ringing took over the lead from Steuben Ruthless after a
blistering :25.4 opening quarter, and then paced the field through additional
splits of :55, and 1:23.2 en route to her fourth win at the 25-program meet. The swift showing resulted in a fresh
win-record and the 11th lifetime victory for the 5-year-old bay
daughter of Cam's Card Shark-Heavenly Sign, who is owned by Cassie Russo and
Andrew J. Gannon.
In
addition to his winning performance with Bells Are Ringing, Whittemore also
finished first with Canaco Star in the fourth contest, Small Bills in the fifth
and Maxnifizent in the nightcap to earn his second four-bagger of the track's
60th season.
The
1:52.2 lifetime-fastest win by the Lonny Hale-conditioned Canaco Star was her
third in succession and fifth at the meet, tops among pacers, and placed the
steady-going 7-year-old mare in a tie with the trotter Hold On Tightly for most
Standardbred scores at the Downs thus far in 2013.
Driver
John MacDonald delivered two victories during Thursday's racing, while Hale and
Dennis Whittemore (Jimmy's father) each hustled up a pair of training tallies.
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