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Thursday, April 5, 2018

Plano, Wiseman, Kennedy round all the bases


By Mark Ratzky, publicity- Cal Expo Harness

Luke Plano and Steve Wiseman continued their domination at head of the driver standings last week, with each pilot registering a four-bagger on the Friday program, while James Kennedy was the driving star of the show last Saturday with four wins of his own.

Wiseman started things off capturing the Friday opener with Chilma, then Plano countered by taking the second with Winsom Kelly and the fourth with Hi Fidelity.

Not to be outdone, Steve recorded back-to-back tallies with Ragin’s Flight and Totally Racy in the fifth and sixth contests, with Luke and Oh Yeah evening the score in the seventh.

To complete their respective four-win nights, Wiseman clicked with Kiss On The Lips and Plano ended up in the winner’s circle with Eastender in the feature.

On Saturday’s program, Wiseman registered a double and Plano has one winning drive while retaining his margin in the standings over his arch-rival at this meet.

It was Kennedy who had the starring role on this program, as his four wins included a victory with I’m An Athlete in the Open Pace and Delightfully Wild in the Filly and Mare Open.

Sire Stakes, Open II Pace atop marquee

A $6,500 California Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old pacing fillies featuring Goturnumber and an Open II Pace headed by Bettor’s Promise are the main events on Saturday night’s Cal Expo program.

The 11-race card is set to get underway at 6:10 p.m.

Goturnumber is a homebred daughter of Kent’s On Nuke out of the Ira mare Kb’s Midnight who is owned by Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham barn and will once again have James Kennedy in the sulky.

The dark-hued filly has proven clearly best in the last two stakes dances for the division, going coast-to-coast on both occasions while never looking like a loser.

In the March 17 clash, Goturnumber waltzed home with nearly 10 lengths on Brigitte Bordeaux in a lifetime-best 1:57 mile, then showed the way home by two and three-quarter lengths over that same rival at most recent asking.

Taking her on this weekend are Brigitte Bordeaux with Mooney Svendsen; Glad To Meet Ya, Luke Plano; Rhythm, to be guided by William Hernandez; and Lucky Seven Oflodi, who has the outside slot with Tony Succarotte in the bike.

Looking at the co-featured Open II Pace, Bettor’s Promise is coming off a solid runner-up effort to the razor-sharp I’m An Athlete in last week’s Open Pace and should get plenty of respect at the windows while getting away from that rival. Richard Morita and David Yamada are the owners, Lino Pacheco trains and James Kennedy has the assignment.

There are two wagers offered here each night that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the 50-cent Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4.

The Pick 4 comes with a $50,000-guaranteed gross pool on Saturdays and a $30,000 guarantee on Fridays.