Fresh from four straight dominating victories, Frankly Scarlett kept the momentum going at Cal Expo in Friday night’s (December 2) $3,600 headliner for the pacing fillies and mares.
Starting from the pole in a field reduced to five as a result of a scratch, the heavily favored Frankly Scarlett came away a content second into a deliberate tempo until pocket pulling just past an opening quarter that was timed in :29.3.
"I just wanted to let everybody settle and then I'd make my move to the front after that," said trainer Steve Wiseman.
Easily getting the lead to the three-eighths mile station with the pace remaining reasonable, the seven year-old reached the half-mile marker, timed in :59.1. Getting a couple of wheel-disc urges past the half and one minor urge with 7-16ths of a mile to go to keep her attention, the unchallenged daughter of Little Steven-Romantic Music reached the three-quarter mile juncture, time in 1:29.2, while getting one urge at that point.
"I urged her once to get her going because I was just waiting for the stretch drive - - which is when I was going to ask her."
With the field now late in the final-turn, Wiseman got a bit of a surprise when Poor House (James Kennedy) quickly popped out of the pocket.
"I know Poor House has a wicked brush when she comes and there was a little concern because I had to get my horse in gear pretty quickly because I wasn't ready for Poor House at that point."
With the field now just approaching the seven-eighths mile pole, Poor House had reached the wheel of Frankly Scarlett. Was there reason for Wiseman to have more worries?
"No, because by the seven-eighths, my mare was in full gear - - there was no concern the last eighth of a mile because she had responded very well and ended up pacing home like I thought she would."
Under urging and digging in, the Robert Bacon owned Frankly Scarlett held firm from mid-stretch on to win ($2.40) by 1-1/2 lengths, in 1:57, thus winning her fifth straight while recording her 26th career triumph. Poor House finished in second, and Lust (Lemoyne Svendsen) finished 1-1/4 lengths farther back, in third.
"She raced very good and I'm very fortunate to be able to train her and have her in my barn," concluded Wiseman.
Live racing continues at Cal Expo on Saturday (December 3) at 6:00 p.m. (PST). On Saturday, Cal Expo offers free admission, as well as free preferred & general parking after 4:30 p.m. Also on Saturday, its Dollar Night, on which hot-dogs; beer, soda, and wine will be sold for one dollar from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Cal Expo now offers a reduced 15 percent takeout rate on all Pick 4’s (Thursday/Friday nights in partnership with the USTA Strategic Wagering Committee). In addition, all Late Pick 4’s will come with a $10,000-guaranteed pool. On Saturday night, there will be a 0% takeout on successful Late Pick 4 tickets made at Cal Expo or at Twinspires.com.
