La Madawna De Rosa has Tupper singing praises
By Mark
Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
La Madawna De Rosa, who suits up in Sunday’s sixth race Open III
Pace for fillies and mares, is the pride and joy of her owner/breeder Cindy
Tupper with Lester Smith the conditioner and Mark Kennedy making a return
appearance in the sulky.
Racing with conditioned rivals last weekend, the 7-year-old
daughter of Little Steven proved a punctual 4-5 favorite under Kennedy’s
direction, storming home from last to prevail by three-quarters of a length
while just missing her lifetime standard by a tick with the 1:56 final
clocking.
“She’s the first foal from her dam, Keystone Rosedale, and her
name comes from the way she was acting right after she came into this world,”
Cindy explained. “She was foaled at UC Davis and we got to see her within 15
minutes of her birth.
“She was vocal right from the get-go, and when we walked up and
peered over the wall, she had just finished nursing and gave us quite a
greeting.
“At that point, she came wobbly-legged over to us, stuck her
nose up and winnied again as if to stay ‘Hi, how have you been?’ She then did a
little dance around the stall a couple of times and has been in your face and a
show off every since. Thus the Madonna name.”
For the record, the diminutive mare has won 12 of her 95 starts,
with 16 seconds and 14 thirds thrown in for good measure and has $57,000 in her
bank account.
Because she was a late foal on June 8, La Madawna De Rosa didn’t
race as a 2-year-old. In fact, when Tupper first approached trainer Bob
Johnson, he expressed doubts she would ever make it to the races as she was
much smaller than anyone in the barn.
“She proved herself and surprised him and his second trainer,
Robert Bell, at that time. She got a second in her third race, followed by two
consecutive wins with a 27 3/5 last quarter and a 1:57 new lifetime mark in
April of 2012.”
After productive campaigns at 3 and 4, La Madawna De Rosa came
up lame in front in January of 2014 and a decision was made to give her all the
time she needed. “She returned in the fall, with Leon Smith training, and got
her first win in November with Williams Hernandez driving.
“She also had two wins in December with Luke Plano and ended up
with a total of 14 races for the year.”
Last season saw the Tupper representative making 22 appearances
and this year she has 11 trips to the post thus far and a pair of snapshots,
including last week’s popular score.
The mare has always done her best work from the back of the
pack, preferring to save her best for last. “She has consistently come home off
the pace, many times from last or near last in the field,” Cindy noted. “Many
of her races have also resulted in photo finishes.”
In addition to La Madawna De Rosa’s exploits, Tupper is also
proud of her 5-year-old full sister, La Diva De Rosa, who has captured three of
her last four starts, including a dead-heat with Smash last week.
Winning is always so nice.
Hi Ho Houdini, Uringoodhands stakes
combatants
Hi Ho Houdini, a dominating winner of the last two big-money
events for the division this season, squares off against the hard-hitting
Uringoodhands in Sunday evening’s featured $10,000 California Sire Stakes at
Cal Expo.
The featured event for 4-year-old pacing males is scheduled as
the third contest on an 11-race card and the action is set to get underway at
5:05 p.m.
Hi Ho Houdini is a son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s out of the Park
Place mare Holls Park Place who carries the banner of Lujuanna Lopez with
Gordie Graham the conditioner and Luke Plano in his usual spot in the sulky.
The bay performer comes into this assignment having landed in
the charmed enclosure following seven of his 10 starts. Included in those wins
are a victory in the Marvin Shapiro Pace and a trio of Sire Stakes decisions.
Hi Ho Houdini established his lifetime mark of 1:53 1/5 when he
accounted for the February 6 stakes gathering for this group, doing the
track-and-attack to perfection for Plano while prevailing by two and a
half-lengths that evening.
Uringoodhands is a Kent’s On Nuke homebred who races for Mark
Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham shedrow and will be guided by James
Kennedy this weekend.
The dark-hued performer was the dominant player in the division
last year while winning nine of his six starts, and while he has a lifetime
best 1:53 1/5 conditioned score to his credit in 2016, he has had to settle for
second behind Hi Ho Houdini in the first two Sire Stakes this season. Lodi
Machette Man, Hi Ho’s Little Rev and Musician complete the cast.
