Big Red Machine tears up the Vesey track again
Colin Mello chalked up three wins on two different horses and nearly broke his own track record during the last round of harness racing at Vesey Street.Mello won both heats in the 1.04/4 and faster Free for All ‘A’ with seven-year-old stud Big Red Machine, who came to within one fifth of a second of breaking the track record of 1.02 flat that he set less than a month ago.“As I’ve said before, Big Red Machine just amazes me every time I sit behind him,” he said. “He does it pretty much all on his own.”Mello, 32, went on to cap another flawless display of racing by guiding Aaron Sims’ mare, Real Lady Like, to victory in the second heat of the 1.051.06/1 ‘A’ time bar.“She is a real nice mare to drive,” he added. “Overall, it was a good night of racing and I can’t really complain about that.”Philip Correia and Andrea Westerfield were the big winners in the 1.04/4 and faster Free for All ‘B’ heats. Correia won the first heat with Cherokee Superman in 1.04/3 while Westerfield won the second heat in the sulky of Captain Progress in 1.04 flat.Moving up to the Free For All was Track Patrol, driven by Cameron Harris, who won the second heat in the 1.05-1.06/1 ‘B’ time bar in 1.04/2.Time After Time, with Darico Clarke in the sulky, managed to get a leg in the Free for All after producing a solid showing in the 1.05-1.06/1 ‘A’ time bar.Also on the move at Vesey Street at the weekend were Arthur Hurst (Just Call Me Willie) and Zinho Cooper (Return to Sender) who moved up from the 1.09/4- 1.1¼ ‘B’ time bar. Hurst won the first heat in 1.08/3 while Cooper won the second in 1.09/3 respectively.Veteran campaigner Hurst also had a day to remember as he was a double heat winner with Pretty Boy’s Magic in the 1.18/2 and Slower ‘B’ time bar.Also picking up three wins on the day were former top cricketer Arnold Manders on two different horses and Clarke. Manders was a double heat winner in the 1.14/1-1.16/1 time bar with Colonel’s Finest and also won a heat in the 1.05-1.06/1 ‘C’ time bar with Down Home Punch while Clarke also had wins with Stay Tuned and Sure Grand in the 1.09/4-1.1¼ ‘A’ and 1.05-1.06/1 ‘B’ time bars.Among the day’s remaining multiple heat winners were Jason Peniston, the evergreen David Lopes and Harris. Peniston guided Nite Dreamer and Crown’s Jewel to victory in the 1.06/2-1.07/2 ‘A’ and 1.07/3-1.09/3 time bars. Lopes’ two wins arrived LA Erma Time and Pastor Paul in the 1.12-1.14 ‘B’ and 1.05-1.06/1 ‘C’ time bars, while Harris’ other win was achieved with GV Speed Demon, who won the opening heat in the 1.06/2-1.07/2 ‘A’ time bar to live up to his name.