Vernon, NY --- John W. O’Connor’s 3-year-old trotter Brookroad Knight is the latest track record holder at Vernon Downs.
Listed as a colt in the Vernon program book for last Wednesday's $132,236 New York Sires Stakes contest, Brookroad Knight turned in a fast-closing 1:53.4 performance in the ninth race that, at the time, was thought to be three-fifths of a second off the current track standard for his age, sex and gait, that had been established by Archangel back on June 8.
Jim Morrill, Jr. did the steering for trainer Bruce Borden and owner O’Connor, as the son of CR Excalibur-Questionable Lady advanced from fifth in the early going, and then closed from second at the head of the stretch to pass and defeat the favorite, Coraggioso, by 1-1/4 lengths. The impressive performance marked the quick-striding youngster’s second NYSS victory in a row, his third tally of 2012 and eighth all time, raising his lifetime earnings to more than $134,000.
The next morning, O’Connor notified Vernon’s racing department that Brookroad Knight had previously been gelded, and felt his altered equine should be entitled to the Vernon record for sophomore trotting geldings, which at the time was 1:54, having been set by Whatever It Takes the previous year.
Since then, O’Connor has proved proof of the alteration, and the track’s current record chart now lists Brookroad Knight’s sterling 1:53.4 mile as the fastest by a 3-year-old trotting gelding in the track’s 59-year history.