Mark Kennedy’s resolve rewarded with first victory
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Mark
Kennedy admits that when he was not in a good place at the end of 2013, but a
2014 New Year’s resolution got him back on track and it all came together when
he drove his first winner here last Saturday night.
Mark
is a 31-year-old Colorado native who has a harness pedigree – his father is
longtime horseman Earl Kennedy and his brother James is one of the top
driver/trainers on the grounds. “We’re a very close family and I’ve been around
the sport all my life,” he said.
While
Mark had done a lot of grooming and eventually assistant training, events had
kept him from his dream of being a harness driver until 2014 rolled around and
he made his mind up to change his life. “I really did it for my daughter Kinsey
and my son Colten, to show them that you can accomplish what you dream,”
Kennedy explained.
The
first part of the plan found Mark going back to Pennsylvania and working with
Lou Pena, which gave him the chance to be around some very nice horses while
getting some excellent first-hand experience.
“I
got my qualifying license last fall, just before I came back to California, and
it was thanks to my dad, my brother, Mark Eaton and Gene Vallandingham that I
got the chance to get in those qualifying drives.”
Mark
received his ‘P’ driving license on March 1 and three weeks later was posing
for pictures with Fox Valley Largo in his sixth lifetime trip to the post. It
was a family affair, with Earl owning the 11-year-old and James doing the
training. “It was the resolution I made coming true,” Kennedy noted. “I felt
great and it was like a great stress had been lifted from me. It was everything
I thought it would be.”
Sire
Stakes, Open Pace command the spotlight
A $10,000 California Sire Stakes for 3-year-old
pacing colts featuring Uringoodhands and Hi Ho’s Little Rev and an Open Pace
headed by St Lads Lotto top Saturday night’s Watch and Wager LLC program at Cal
Expo.
A 12-race card is on tap with first post set at 6:10
p.m. There will be Saturday and Sunday racing this week, with the trotters and
pacers in action on Friday and Saturday night next week, April 3 and 4, with no
racing on Easter Sunday.
Uringoodhands
is a homebred son of Kent’s On Nuke out of the Surmo Hanover mare Sparks Will
Fly who is owned by Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham barn and will
once again have the services of James Kennedy.
The
dark-hued performer has captured four of the five stakes races decided for the
division, with his lone setback being a neck loss to Hi Ho’s Little Rev in
their January 31 meeting. Uringoodhands has made every pole a winning in the
three subsequent Sire Stakes, with Hi Ho’s Little Rev checking in second in
each of those races.
The
latter is a son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s who carries the banner of Vanessa Gilliam
with Bob Johnson training and Mooney Svendsen at the controls. He was runner-up
to Uringoodhands in the first stakes gathering on January 17, hung that neck
decision on him in the next match-up, and has finished second in the last three
big-money match-ups. Laissezmoipicoler,
Devil’s Rein, Loci Machette Man, Sounion and Musician complete the field.
********
There are four wagers on the program that come with
a reduced 16 percent takeout rate. They are the Jackpot 6 and Hi-5, which are
10-cent minimum bets; the 50-cent Pick 5; and the 20-cent Pick 4, which has a
$25,000-guaranteed pool as part of the USTA Strategic Wagering Program.
Last Saturday night there was one perfect Jackpot 6
ticket returning $65,456, not a bad return for a dime investment.
