Sunday, June 17, 2012 - by Scott Ehrlich,
Publicity – Cal Expo
His
"mark" is 1:50 and on this night, Split Ticket reminded everyone why.
Closing
night conditioned pacers, racing for a purse of $6,000, were featured at Cal
Expo on a HOT Saturday night (June 16), on which Split Ticket won for the 39th
time in his career.
Before
starting from post-position one in the field of seven, driver Jim Lackey, who
hadn't driven Split Ticket in quite a while, was advised why his charge had
bounced in his last after showing signs of readiness in his previous mile.
"They
said he had choked down last week, but I still had very little expectations
going in to the race."
Leaving
a bit until yielding into the first-turn to Tax Relief (Dave Siegel) and the up
in class lead seeking Strikes N Charges (Darren Lupul), Split Ticket would come
away in third into a speedy :27.1 opening quarter.
"I
know Lupul tries to hold the front with that horse, but I figured after that
type of quarter, combined with my horse feeling pretty good, that I'd take a
shot at him and test him."
Flushed
to the outside while uncovered past the 7-16ths mile marker, Lackey reveals he
was going to pull anyway, and with good reason.
"I
just wanted to get out and moving before Tax Relief did because I figured with
my horse and the class he has, that he could overpower that horse on the
lead. Once that occurred we'd see what
would happen after that."
Moving
pretty quickly and getting the lead easily at the 9-16ths mile station, was
Lackey aware that the favorite was locked in?
"I
didn't look back, but I knew it was a possibility that Tax Relief was locked
in, and since my horse felt real good and you sometimes drive by feel, I just
kind of let him set his own pace."
Opening
up by 2-1/2 lengths at the five-eighths mile pole, then getting his earplugs
popped past the midway point of the final-turn, the eight year-old responded
and was four lengths to the good and going strong at the three-quarter mile
juncture, timed in 1:25.
"He
felt strong too and sometimes horses with that back class know they've got 2-3
lengths on the horses coming from behind and they swell up and don't feel like
they should be tired. I thought my
chances were very good because he wasn't slowing down, he was marching."
Stepping
out to a five length advantage at the head of the lane and expanding his lead
with every stride while pouring it on, it was all over but the shouting.
"I
didn't want him to go to sleep on his big lead, so I just kept him to his task
by doing various little things to keep his attention and keep him alert. He was giant down the lane."
Owned
by Richard Morita & David Yamada, the Liberio Pacheco trained gelding
romped ($12.20) home by 6-3/4 lengths, in 1:52.1, establishing a seasonal
mark. Haggin Oaks (James Kennedy)
finished in second, and Tax Relief finished 2-1/2 lengths farther back, in
third.
"You
can see why he was a very good horse because he's got a big motor and covers a
lot of ground - - he was awesome," finished Lackey, who had three winners
on the 12-race program. The winning time
was the 2nd fastest mile of the winter-spring meet. The fastest mile of the meet was recorded by
Whipped Dreams in 1:52, who Lackey also piloted.
Also
on the closing night card, leading driver Luke Plano recorded six victories.
Live
harness racing is scheduled to resume in the fall, early November is
unofficially projected.
