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| LUKE PLANO, who recorded eight driving victories last Saturday night at Cal Expo, handles Meringue in Friday evening's trotting feature. |
An 8-year-old homebred son of Trot For Joy out of the Armbro Goal mare Light The Lamp, Putoneonnetformom carries the banner of Jeff, Gerald and Diana Cimini with Rocky Stidham the conditioner and James Kennedy in his usual spot in the sulky. He comes into this assignment with $129,000 in the bank and a 1:57.2 mark that was established here last season.
The dark-hued trotter prevailed in seven of his 22 trips to the post last year, with a second and a third to kick off 2012 before returning to the winner’s circle following the most recent clash at the top rung. Off at 7-2 in that affair and taking advantage of an early miscue by his favored stable-mate Shelby County, Putoneonnetformom shot right to the front for Kennedy, set the fractions without challenge and drew off in the stretch.
Giles L S Hanover completed the exacta behind Putoneonnetformom last time and will join Franks Best as the uncoupled Bob Johnson stable representatives in the line-up. Giles L S Hanover is owned by the trainer, Marty Garey and Hank Wieseneck with Steve Wiseman at the controls, while Johnson owns and bred Franks Best and has Lemoyne Svendsen in the sulky.
Giles L S Hanover is coming off back-to-back second-place finishes, following Shelby County home two weeks ago and then making some late progress to get the place behind Putoneonnetformom in that last tour. The 7-year-old son of S Js Photo has a 1:58.1 career standard from three years ago.
Franks Best is a multiple stakes-winning son of Armbro Scribe who had his picture taken following nine of his 27 appearances last season, but has had to be happy with minor awards in his three outings this year. He has $117,000 in the bank and established his 1:57 standard over this layout.
Rounding out the field are Cobina, who will have the services of Scott Cisco; Carpathian Hooray with Jim Lackey guiding from the cozy one-hole, and Meringue to be handled by Luke Plano. A 15-race program is on tap, with the main event going as the second contest on the card.
Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (January 27) & Saturday (January 28) at 6:00 p.m. (PST). On every live card, Cal Expo offers free parking & free admission after 4:30 p.m. 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 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.
