Gene
Vallandingham spiced up the Late Pick 4 last weekend at Cal Expo when he guided
Asgoodasioncewas to a $136 shocker, giving the 7-year-old pacer a perfect
track-and-attack journey from the cozy one-hole.
Asgoodasioncewas
is certainly well bred, being a son of Jenna’s Beach Boy out of an Abercrombie
mare, while currently doing his work with the more blue-collar workers on the
grounds.
“I
got this horse as a Christmas gift from Lou Pena and Jennifer Sabot, and they
even paid for the shipping,” said Vallandingham, who does triple duty as owner,
trainer and driver for the performer. It
was their second trip to the winner’s circle on the season.
For
the 71-year-old Vallandingham, this was victory No. 2,927 with over $13 million
in the bank. As far as the 67-1 winner,
Gene does recall engineering at least one bigger explosion of the tote-board in
his career.
“I
don’t remember the name of the horse, but it was at Hollywood Park back in the
late 70s or early 80s and it paid $180,” he related.
Race
Honors Memory Of Dan Sawicki; Colt Sire Stakes At Cal Expo On Saturday
The
Dan Sawicki Memorial Pace and a pair of $12,000 California Sire Stakes for the
3-year-old pacing males headed by Ra Ra Steven and Rite After Disbeer will be
featured at Cal Expo on Saturday evening (May 26)
The
Dan Sawicki is named for the longtime owner, trainer, driver and blacksmith who
passed away earlier this month at the age of 72. A native of Chicago, Mr. Sawicki spent most
of his life in the Windy City, but fell in love with Sacramento when he made
the trip 10 years ago and had been here ever since.
For
the past five years, Dan has been closely associated with the Gretchen Smith
barn, most recently campaigning the pacer Stand Up And Shout. A die-hard Cubs fan, he was rarely seen
without the jacket of his beloved baseball team.
Gretchen
Smith said, “I want to really thank the horsemen for their generosity in
contributing to the fund for his cremation. The racetrack was his family and it
was heartwarming to see the way everyone wanted to help.”
The
Sawicki Memorial carries a purse of $3,300 and will bring together a field of
eight, including a Smith trainee in No Storm Damage. Taking that one are Jen’s
Delight, Moody Miss, Dream U Fool, Dreamsofgrandeur, Sweet Temperance,
Litttlest Mermaid and Mo Fancy.
Both
Sire Stakes will go as non-betting events prior to the regular program. In the contest for the pacers, Ra Ra Steven
is a homebred son of Little Steven who carries the banner of Billie Schwartz,
David Rachford and trainer Jim Wilkinson Jr., with Rich Wojcio in his usual
spot in the sulky. He captured three
stakes events last season and is coming off a powerful victory in the most
recent big-money contest for this group.
The
Wilkinson trainee has actually crossed the wire first in the last pair of Sire
Stakes events, but was disqualified from his victory in the April 28 affair
when he drifted out and caused interference.
There were no such troubles in that last gathering two weeks ago,
however.
Sent
off the 8-5 second choice that evening, Wojcio buzzed Ra Ra Steven right to the
front. He carved out the fractions
without challenge, opened a large lead into the stretch and came home with
three and half-lengths to spare while shaving a second and a tick off his
lifetime mark with the 1:56.1 final clocking.
That
Space is definitely the main threat after making up a lot of ground to finish
second in that contest as the 7-5 favorite after coming down from Canada. This son of Power Of Art from the Bo Knows
Jate mare Bos Gal races for J J J Stables, takes his lessons from Gordie Graham
and has Luke Plano at the controls. He
has accounted for six of his 11 appearances on the season with a 1:56.1 career
standard. Completing the field are Artability, Ridgerson and Looks Don’t Count.
In
the trotting stakes, Rite After Disbeer is seeking to make a clean sweep of the
four big-money races at this meeting for the team of owner/breeder Mary Harris,
trainer Kennedy Lindsey and driver Luke Plano.
Taking him on are Lee’s Persuader, High Dollar, Loose Cannon, El Azteca
and Light Red.
Live
racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (May 25) & Saturday (May 26) 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 currently offers a reduced 15 percent takeout rate on all Pick 4’s. Additionally, all Late Pick 4’s now come with
an increased $20,000-guaranteed gross pool.
Also, the Friday Late Pick 4 will offer a 0% takeout on all winning wagers
made on track or at Twinspires.com, while the Saturday Late Pick 4 will be
broadcast on TVG.
