Vernon: Zweig Memorial for males won by Ready For Moni

Ready For Moni, the second-place finisher in the Hambletonian final at the Meadowlands earlier this month, picked up the biggest victory of his career thus far on Friday afternoon at Vernon Downs, grabbing top honors in the $330,000 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters. The final time of 1:51 1/5 lowered the track record for a sophomore colt trotter by a fifth of a second.

Big Oil (Andy Miller) left out from post seven and cleared King Alphonso (Dexter Dunn) for the top spot prior to the 26 4/5 opening quarter. Back Of The Neck (Scott Zeron), who came in third in the Hambletonian, settled behind those two, and Ready For Moni, driven by Matt Kakaley for the first time, landed in fourth. Zeron would send Back Of The Neck to the outside in the second quarter, with Ready For Moni hot on his heels. Back Of The Neck would work his way past Big Oil beyond the 56 second half-mile marker, leaving Ready For Moni two-wide and uncovered.

Though he lost the helmet he was following when Back Of The Neck cleared to the point, Ready For Moni sustained his bid and was able to wrestle control away from Back Of The Neck on the last turn. From there, Ready For Moni went on to three-quarters in 1:23 1/5, and Back Of The Neck could not dent the leader's advantage through the lane, as a 28 second final kicker got Ready For Moni to the wire two lengths to the good. Back Of The Neck was a clear second, with King Alphonso third. Coventry Hall (Andrew McCarthy) and Berkery J (Brian Sears) completed the top five finishers.

The 1:51 1/5 clocking bettered the previous Vernon Downs track record for a 3-year-old colt trotter of 1:51 2/5 set by Six Pack and The Veteran in 2018.

Nancy Takter trains Ready For Moni, a colt by Ready Cash, for owners John Fielding, Lindy Farms, Herb Liverman, and Bud Hatfield. Ready For Moni now has seven wins from 12 lifetime appearances, and he has banked $764,020. He paid $3.30 to win as the favorite.