By
Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Not
only did Bob Johnson own, train and breed last week’s Invitational Trot
dead-heat winners Franks Best and Inside Broadway, but these two top performers
are half-brothers as they are out of the American Winner mare Inside Edition.
They square off again Friday night.
“Inside
Edition was an Open mare with a 1:57 2/5 mark at 4, but she developed an ankle
infection which ended her career,” Johnson related. “She was retired at the
Desomer Farm and bred to Armbro Scribe.”
The
resulting foal was Franks Best, who was an absolute terror in Sire Stakes
competition in his younger days and has continued his winning ways under
Johnson’s direction. He suits up Friday evening with $181,000 in his account
and a 1:56 2/5 mark that was set last season over the Running Aces oval.
“Inside
Edition was eventually sent back to Pennsylvania, and that’s where she was bred
to Broadway Hall two years later,” Bob said. “Inside Broadway won a few stakes
in Pennsylvania and took his mark of 1:55 3/5.”
Both
trotters competed this summer in Indiana and have been putting on a pretty good
show for barn bragging rights through the first couple of months of this
meeting. “That last race was a real thrill,” Johnson explained. “To have these
two horses dead-heat in an Invitational is a great feeling, especially having
bred for both of them.”
********
A
reminder that are there are three bets offered each night with a reduced 16
percent takeout rate – the 50-cent Pick 5; the 20-cent Pick 4 and the 10-cent
Hi-Five on the nightcap. To give you a better idea what this means in terms of
dollars, the three payoffs on the November 15 card were $5,973 for the Pick 5;
the Pick 4 clocked in at $1,954 and the Hi-Five returned $1,422.
Using
normal takeout rates, the Pick 5 would have dropped to $5,332 for a difference
of $641 to each winner; the Pick 4 would have paid $1,744, meaning each ticket
would have been worth $210 less; and the Hi-Five would have come in at $1,269,
a difference of $153 for each winning combination.
Sire Stakes, Invitational Trot get marquee treatment
A $10,000 California Sire Stakes for 3-year-old
fillies matching Show Runner and Strings and an Invitational Trot featuring
last week’s dead-heating half-brothers Franks Best and Inside Broadway headline
the Friday night action at Cal Expo.
Show Runner is a daughter of Little Steven out
of the Tyler’s Mark mare Peace Runner who is owned by Denise Maier and Eileen
Brodbar with Tim Maier reining and training. She comes into this assignment
with 16 wins from her 30 starts on the season, $88,000 in earnings and a 1:52
3/5 mark that was set this season at Running Aces.
The
bay miss has rattled off three straight impressive victories at this meet. She
waltzed home by nearly four lengths in the Open on November 15; proved a
punctual 1-2 choice in the most recent Sire Stakes clash two weeks ago and then
absolutely crushed her rivals at the most recent asking in the Louis GG Perego Memorial under Maier’s direction.
Strings was second to Show Runner in that last stakes
clash and once again looms the main rival for owner/breeders Wayne and Rod
Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson and pilot Mooney Svendsen. The Hi Ho Silverheel’s
offspring picked up her seventh win on the year in a conditioned affair last
week and will attempt to turn the tables on the division’s top gun.
Looking
at the Invite Trot, Franks Best and Inside Broadway are owned, trained and were
bred by Bob Johnson. Franks Best is a 6-year-old son of Armbro Scribe out of
the American Winner mare Inside Edition, while Inside Broadway is a 4-year-old
by Broadway Hall out of that fine mare. Mooney Svendsen guides Franks Best and
James Kennedy handles Inside Broadway.
Franks
Best has a slew of Sire Stakes trophies on his mantle with $181,000 in the bank
and a 1:56 2/5 lifetime standard that was established last season at Running
Aces. He sports three victories from six appearances at this session, including
that dead-heat for the top position with his barnmate at most recent asking.
Inside
Broadway has posed for pictures following three of his last four trips to the
post under Kennedy’s guidance and the Johnson performer is looking to add to a
$65,000 account. He was a 1:55 3/5 victor at Harrah’s Philadelphia last season
and figures to be up close and personal from the outset.
