He keeps his pilots fit by the way he needs to be driven, but if both parties are in sync, then Cycle Power, like Saturday night (January 14), is often fastest of all.
Winners-Over pacers, racing for a purse of $4,500, were featured at Cal Expo in the Lloyd Arnold Memorial, on which Cycle Power won in dramatic fashion.
In advance of starting from post-three in the field of five, driver James Kennedy knew three things, and it wasn't about his competition.
"My only thoughts going into the race was that I was going to have to work on him real hard, stay on the inside, and hope they go fast enough up front so that I could come home with him," stated Kennedy.
Coming away fourth, Kennedy was pleasantly surprised when Lemoyne Svendsen pushed the pace with Ivegotwhatuneed from the pole, thus extending the 4-5 favorite Marlin Hanover (Luke Plano), who didn't clear to the front until the quarter-mile pole, timed in a used :28.
"That made me feel real good because that meant they were going fast."
Remaining in the cleanup spot into a :57.4 first-half mile, was Kennedy worried that a :29.4 breather would work in favor of Marlin Hanover?
"I had no thoughts on his breather, I was just keeping my horse up on the bit and trying to keep him strong."
Popping the earplugs of his charge and urging him with three-eighths of a mile to go, did Kennedy get the response he wanted?
"I think I did because he stayed pretty close to One And Only (Jim Lackey), who we were following, plus my horse didn't lose any ground - - and for him that's good."
Still fourth and sitting as everyone did while 5-1/4 lengths back at the three-quarter mile pole, timed in 1:27, Kennedy didn't let the :59 middle-half breather for Marlin Hanover phase him.
"I still had no thoughts on Marlin Hanover, I was basically just trying to keep my horse live. And since he was feeling pretty good and continuing to stay close to One And Only and not losing any ground, I thought I had a good shot."
Now four lengths off and on the move at the head of the lane and being urged, the six year-old drifted to the seven-eighths mile marker, but was also revving it up.
"I was getting ready to go to work on him at the seven-eighths because I know he needs to be driven hard and fired up to be able to close strong. Him drifting a little to that point didn't worry me."
Now flying with a sixteenth of a mile to go, the gelding suddenly made what could easily be called a right turn that certainly could have proved costly.
"It was more my fault because when I put both lines in one hand, I grabbed a little too much of the right-line and I didn't have time to adjust myself as I had to keep driving on him. That's why he veered out real bad, and we lost a little bit of ground, but I don't think we lost any momentum - - so it didn't concern me because he was continuing to close very strong, and we'd end up getting that at the wire."
Owned by trainer Nathalie Tremblay, an all-out Cycle Power, while on the far outside, picked them up and laid them down to win ($8.40) by 1-1/4 lengths, in 1:55. One And Only came on to be second, and Amigo De Garcia (Steve Wiseman) rallied to be third, just a nose farther back.
"It was a very hard working race for me, but it paid off because that's what he needs and we got to the wire first," finished Kennedy.
Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (January 20) & Saturday (January 21) at 6:00 p.m. (PST). On Friday and every live card, Cal Expo offers free admission, as well as free preferred & general parking after 4:30 p.m. Also on Friday, Cal Expo offers Happy Hour from 4:00-7:00 p.m. on which Beer, Well Drinks & Wine are offered at $4 each, while a Burger with fries is offered at $5.
Cal Expo continues to offer 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 nights, there will be a 0% takeout on successful Late Pick 4 tickets made at Cal Expo or at Twinspires.com.
