Vernon: Manchego takes another shot at the boys in Zweig

Round three of the Battle of the Sexes commences on Friday evening at Vernon Downs when super-filly Manchego takes a shot at her male counterparts in the $350,000 Harry M. Zweig Memorial for 3-year-olds.

Manchego will face a field of eight male competitors including pre-Hambletonian favorite Six Pack and Hambletonian runner-up Met’s Hall in the ninth race feature on the program. A $178,000 filly final goes as the eighth race with world record holder Plunge Blue Chip expected to be the heavy public choice.

Manchego tackled the boys in the Earl Beal Memorial at The Downs at Pocono and after winning her elimination broke in the final while making an uncovered bid. Atlanta accomplished the task of besting the colts by winning the second heat of the Hambletonian in 1:50 4/5. That time was almost a full second slower than Manchego clocked (1:50) in winning the Hambletonian Oaks one race earlier on the August 4 card at The Meadowlands.

“I do,” said driver Yannick Gingras when asked if he thought Manchego was better than Atlanta and the boys. “Obviously she has to go out and prove it but that certainly how we feel about her.

“It’s a tougher task than to go against the fillies, so if you do well it should elevate her status. It would be cool for sure.”

Manchego, a five-time winner in seven starts this year, will start from post 2 with Gingras once again in the bike. The Jimmy Takter-trained filly gets a nice post edge over top contenders Six Pack and Met’s Hall.

Six Pack, a winner of five races in seven starts this year for trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt, will start from post 6. The Son of Muscle Mass has earned $359,198 in 2018, just over $3,000 less than Manchego.

Met’s Hall has only missed the board once in five starts during his sophomore campaign and was making up ground to finish just a length behind Atlanta in the $1,000,000 Hambletonian. Andy Miller has the driving assignment from post 8 for wife/trainer Julie.

A longshot that is looking to rebound is Evaluate. After a strong start to 2018, the Marcus Melander-trained colt has had his troubles during the summer months, but the conditioner sees the glass as half-full.

“I thought he raced very well in the final from post 9,” said Melander about the colt’s fifth-place effort in the second heat of the Hambletonian. “If he had a better post maybe we could’ve been second or third.”

Brian Sears is listed to driver Evaluate from post 3.

All of the Zweig contestants with the exception of Manchego are coming out of the Hambletonian. They include Patent Leather (post 1), Fashionwoodchopper (post 4), Alarm Detector (post 5), Classichap (post 7) and You Know You Do (post 9).

Post time for the 10-race Vernon Friday card, which also includes two divisions of New York Sire Stakes for 2-year-old filly pacers, is 6:10 p.m.