Philip Correia laid down an early marker during Friday’s opening round of the 2012-13 harness racing season.Correia’s seven-year-old colt Superman Cherokee ran the night’s fastest time of 1:04/2 in the Free for All at the Vesey Street racetrack.The harness pony’s time was just over a second slower than his lifetime best which currently stands at 1:03/1.“Every year he has bettered his lifetime so he’s still peaking,” Correia told The Royal Gazette. “Hopefully he can better his lifetime again this year.”The Inwood Stables driver said he hoped his pony’s latest showing was a sign of bigger and better things to come this season.”It’s a good start and hopefully we have a stronger finish this year,” he added. “It was a good race day and hopefully he’s got more to come because it takes a while before they (ponies) get up to the fitness level.”Superman Cherokee bested track record holder Big Red Machine on the way to victory in the Free for All.“Colin Mello’s pony (Big Red Machine) is still a hot topic right now and still the horse to beat,” Correia said. “He was behind me and my main goal was to hold him off.”Last season saw Mello’s stud shave one fifth of a second off his own previous track record (1:02) on the way to setting a new mark of 1:0¼.Meanwhile, also getting the new campaign off to promising starts were the evergreen Johnny Paynter, Keith Woodley and Joe Vieira who managed three heat wins.Paynter had two wins with Leo Simmons’ mare Ribbons and Pearls in the 1:08/3-1:10/3 time bar and another with his own mare Sure Grand in the 1:05-1:06 time bar. Woodley had two wins with mare Bruna’s Girl in the 1:07/2-1:08/2 time bar and another with mare Spirit Bruna’s in the 1:15/1 and slower time bar.Vieira had two wins in the 1:07/2-1:08/2 time bar with mare Cherokee Kibbitz and another with Mello’s Big Red Machine in the 1:04/4 and faster time bar.Dylan DeSilva, Jason Peniston, Arthur Hurst and Driving Horse and Pony Club (DHPC) president Arnold Manders were all double heat winners.Manders swept both heats in the 1:08/3-1:10/3 time bar with mare Colonel’s Finest while Peniston achieved the same with feat with gelding Nite Dreamer in the combined 1:06/1-1:07/1 and 1:06/1-1:07/1 time bars.Hurst had two wins with colt Colonel’s J in the 1:13-1:15 time bar while DeSilva swept both heats in the 1:10/4-1:12/4 time bar with colt Colonel’s Cyclone.The opening round of the 2012-13 season featured the launch of the Bermuda CableVision Friday Night Series.The new series sees the three fastest ponies on average time in each time bar receive cash earnings ($40 for first, $25 for second and $15 for third).