Bob
Johnson ran out of trophy space a long time ago with Franks Best, the
5-year-old son of Armbro Scribe and the American Winner mare Inside Edition he
owns, trains and also bred.
Having
dominated his peers in Sire Stakes at Cal Expo, now that those races have
finished he has been continuing in sharp fashion while mixing it with older
rivals. Last year saw Franks Best
landing in the charmed enclosure following nine of his 27 outings, including
his 1:57 lifetime standard.
Up
until a couple of weeks ago, however, his 2012 campaign was on the
disappointing side. A drop from the top
ranks earned him a nice confidence builder on February 3, then he returned to
the top level last week and came rolling late to just miss to a free-wheeling
Shelby County in a 1:57.1 affair.
“He
got off his game at the start of the year, and I think he just got a little
muscle sore,” Johnson explained. “We did
a little vet work on him, and then when he got some class relief it really
helped a lot.”
In
the most recent clash for the best trotters on the grounds, Franks Best was
sent off the 5-2 second choice with regular pilot Lemoyne Svendsen and sat a
pocket journey behind the mare Shelby County.
That rival didn’t get much pressure, opened up nearly two lengths in the
stretch and then held by a neck over the Johnson representative.
“He
went another good race,” his mentor noted.
“Hopefully he will stay good and we can have some fun with him.”
