There
was a very popular exacta here last weekend, in more ways than one, when fan
favorites Franky Provolone and Franks Best crossed the line in that order to
the delight of the chalkplayers.
Both
are newly-turned 9-year-old sons of Armbro Scribe who are known for making more
than share of winner’s circle appearances around these parts and as a result
are very popular with the fans.
Franky
Provolone is the pride and joy of owner/trainer Robin Clements and with his
victory under Luke Plano’s direction he pushed his career bank account to just
shy of $193,000. He set his mark of 1:55 4/5 in 2014 during one of his Running
Aces invasions.
Meanhile,
Franks Best is a multiple Sire Stakes hero who is owned, trained and was bred
by Bob Johnson and had regular pilot Mooney Svendsen at the controls for his
runner-up effort. He has $232,000 in the bank and a 1:56 2/5 career standard.
The
win by Franky Provolone was especially sweet for Clements, as the trotter’s
heart went into atrilia fibrillation this summer in Minnesota, which in
layman’s terms means he had an erratic heartbeat.
This
was his fifth start on the comeback trail and his first trip to the winner’s
circle, as Plano guided him to a perfect second-over trip behind Franks Best
and then overpowered that rival for the length and a quarter score as the 1-2
favorite.
As
is usually the case, Franks Best was game in defeat as he did the heavy lifting
in first-over for fashion under main man Svendsen and certainly didn’t give up
without a fight in what turned out be a very entertaining mile.
Jessesjo,
who has been chasing home El Azteca and stablemate Flameon at the top level of
late, gets some class relief and looms the one to beat in Sunday night’s $4,400
Open III Trot.
A 12-race card is on tap and things get underway at 4:55 p.m. The
co-feature on the evening is a $4,400 Open III Pace that brings out the likes
of BB’s Harley, Quality Sport and Bettormeboy. Getting back to the Trot, Jessesjo is a 9-year-old son of Jailhouse Jesse who is owned by Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham barn and will as usual have the services of Chip Lackey while leaving from the outside post in the field of five.
Jessesjo
recorded back-to-back victories here on November 29 and December 5, on both
occasions making every pole a winning one with Lackey at the controls. Since
those scores, he has turned in a pair of third-place finishes behind El Azteca
and Flameon at the Open I level and lost his chance on December 20 with an
early break.
Its Not Over
was fourth in last week’s top dance for the trotting set and will also
appreciate getting away from the two big guns of the division. The son of
Panama Hanover carries the banner of trainer Bob Johnson and Ed Actkinson and
Mooney Svendsen has the return assignment from the No. 3 slot. Completing the field are Northern Stormont for driver/trainer Steve Wiseman; Big Baller, who takes his lessons from George Reider and will be guided by David Siegel; and the Lino Pacheco-trained Windsun Galaxie, who leaves from the rail with James Kennedy in the sulky.
In the co-featured Pace, BB’s Harley, Bettormeboy and Quality Sport were assigned the outside slots and figure to play tough after knocking heads with tougher competition through much of this meeting. I’m An Athlete, Willey Bite and Stable Eyes round out the cast.
