Buck I St. Pat takes on four in Colonial invitational

October 15, 2009

Colonial Downs will host a $40,000 Invitational Trot this Sunday, Oct. 18, where Vivid Photo and Buck I St. Pat headline a field of five participants whose combined purse earnings exceed $5.7 million. The �09 invitational temporarily replaces the Patriot Trot, which had been held at Colonial each of the past three fall seasons at a $100,000 purse level.

Roger Hammer�s Vivid Photo, who captured the first two Patriot Trots, established a life mark in the inaugural �06 edition that he still holds today. The 7-year-old S J�s Photo gelding finished in 1:50.2 that year as a 4 year old, then crossed in 1:50.4 a year later. Vivid Photo was a runner-up in the �08 Patriot when Enough Talk set a world record with a 1:49.3 trotting mile.

Vivid Photo brings a bankroll of over $3.1 million into Colonial�s Invitational. Though he has just three wins from 28 starts this year, Vivid Photo is just several hundred dollars shy of the $100,000 mark in �09 purse winnings. He reached the winners most recently in an Open Handicap at Pocono Downs on Sept. 29.

Buck I St. Pat, who finished third in the �07 Patriot Trot, will provide stiff competition to Hammer�s horse. Tim Tetrick, the country�s leading �09 driver by purse earnings, will be in the sulky Saturday for trainer Ron Burke�s trotting mare. Tetrick, whose father Tom trained horses at Colonial the past several fall seasons, has 562 driving wins this year from 2,741 starts and his horses have earned purse earnings of $13,932,220.

Buck I St. Pat is a solid nine for 16 this year, including recent triumphs in the $73,000 Allerage at Lexington�s Red Mile and the $250,000 Breeders Crown Mare Trot at The Meadowlands. Her �09 bankroll of $390,925 is tops in the field.

Lolique is a 6-year-old trotter co-owned by Mechanicsville, Va. resident Dr. Scott Woogen, who also competes regularly at Colonial. Lolique continues to roll along and has life earnings just shy of $600,000. The Tagliabue gelding has 18 in-the-money finishes from 31 starts this year, good for a �09 bankroll of $240,300. Most recently, Lolique won three of four Open Handicap Trots at Harrah's Chester over the last six weeks.

Colonial�s leading driver, Chris Page, will direct Man About Town in the trotting feature. The 6-year-old Self Possessed gelding won an Aug. 24 Open Handicap at Chester and beat Lolique, who finished third. The Donato Poliseno trainee has earnings of $621,791.

Rounding out the field is Jack Dailey�s RU Watching, who has a pair of wins and a second-place finish in four Colonial Downs starts this fall. The 4-year-old mare is expected to be the long shot in the field.

First post Sunday is 1 p.m. The Invitational has been carded as the sixth of 11 races. (Colonial Downs)

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