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Clarke stands out from the crowd

Phillip Correia (right) was among last week?s multiple winners at Vesey Street.Photo by Mark Tatem

Darico Clarke stood out among the crowd during the last round of harness racing at Vesey Street.The 20-year-old Bermuda College freshman chalked up four wins on three different horses to underline his enormous potential and cap a near flawless display of racing.Clarke, who is studying plumbing, was a double heat winner in the 1.05-1.06/1 time bar in the sulky of Johnny Paynter’s mare Sure Grand.He was also a heat winner at the helm of Joseph Viera’s colt Stay Tuned (1.09/4-1.1¼) and Justin Paynter’s mare Time After Time (1.05-1.06/1) that currently holds the Bermuda bred track record (1.04).When probed on his dominant display, Clarke refused to keep all of the credit to himself.“I knew the horses had been trained good thanks to Justin Paynter who along with myself have been working hard with them and so I knew it was going to be a good week,” he said.“I basically drove smart and as of late every time I get into the sulky I put extra thought into what I am doing and it just turned out to be in my favour.”The eight-year harness racing veteran admitted his memorable display exceeded his own expectations.“I knew I was going to get a double heat winner on at least one of the horses that I drive,” he said. “But I didn’t expect to come out with the amount of wins that I did.”Also enjoying a night to remember was Arthur Hurst who chalked up three wins on two different horses respectively.The veteran driver was a double heat winner in the 1.18/2 and slower time bar at the helm of Pretty Boy’s Magic. He was also won a heat in the 1.09/4-1.1¼ time bar with Just Call Me Willie.Among last weekend’s double heat winners were Cameron Harris (Track Patrol), Philip Correia (Cherokee’s Superman), Andy Stoneham (What A Sensation and Tux’s Revenge) and Dylan DeSilva who had two wins with Colonel’s Maestro in the 1.06/2-1.07/2 time bar.Sharing bragging rights in the Free for All were Colin Mello’s Big Red Machine and EJ Carreiro at the helm of Micheal DeCosta’s filly Abbey’s Dream.Mello’s stud, that currently holds the track record (1.02) won the first heat in 1.04/2 while Carreiro won the second with the day’s fastest time of 1.04 flat respectively.