Billy Mann was in the pilot’s seat this week behind Sand E Fiftyfive and he took advantage of the pole position by sending the mare to the front and they passed by the quarter pole in :28.3. From there Mann kept the pedal to the metal passing the half way point in :59.1 and the third stanza in 1:28.3. Then in the lane Sand E Fiftyfive held off a late charge by Jim Jam Gigolett to score by a length in a time of 1:58.
It doesn’t seem to matter who drives Sand E Fiftyfive as Mann was her third different driver in the past three weeks. Last week Billy Dobson was in the sulky and the previous week Bruce Aldrich Jr. did the teaming.Trainer Billy Kapinos seemed to take another win in stride and wasn’t bubbling over after the mare’s eighth consecutive triumph although he nevertheless seemed proud of her accomplishment. When asked what’s next he gingerly replied “Now we’ll try for number nine” and then he asked “should I move her up (in class)?”
Racing consistently for a $5000 claiming tag a logical reply to that question seems to be yes. But before an answer could be given to his question Kapinos said “ She’ll stay there” meaning he won’t move her to a higher claiming price.Eight consecutive victories is certainly a outstanding accomplishment but for Sand E Fiftyfive to equal the track record set by Northern Chief in 2010 she still needs seven more consecutive victories.
Sent off as the odds-on favorite Sand E Fiftyfive paid $2.70 for win
