VALLANDINGHAM HAS
THEM SURROUNDED
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo
Harness
“I’ve had three in a stakes before, but this will be the first time I’ve had four in a race,” Gene informed. “They pretty much compliment each other as far as their styles go and we’ll just have to figure out a game plan for when the gate rolls.”
Vallandingham will be in the bike behind Asgoodasioncewas, a 7-year-old who boasts a pretty strong pedigree being a son of Jenna’s Beach Boy out of the Abercrombie mare Adjust My Halo. They joined forces in a division of last week’s penultimate leg to post a $26 upset in coast-to-coast fashion.
“The first week you just couldn’t win on the front and everybody was coming from off the pace, but last week was much fairer and he was strong out there. I always prefer to leave with a horse when I can and I’m sure I’ll be doing that again with this guy.”
Gene explained that Asgoodasioncewas came him to late last year from the East Coast in an unusual fashion. “He was a Christmas gift from Jen Sabot and Lou Pena. I remember getting three horses once on my birthday from Michael Silber, but this was the first time I got one for Christmas.”
It was just a coincidence that this gift-wrapped pacer is named Asgoodasioncewas. Gene Vallandingham is still doing his thing at 72 years young, with over 2,900 victories to his credit and an excess of $22 million in earnings. A win with any of his trainees in this weekend’s series finale would be some nice icing on the cake.
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A reminder to exotics players that there are three wagers offered here
with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate and carryovers. They are the 50 cent
Pick 5 that starts on the third race, the $1 Pick 4 with a $25,000-guaranteed
gross pool that begins with the 11th race and a 10 cent Super High 5
on the finale. PAIR OF SURVIVOR FINALES IN SPOTLIGHT
Finales of the Survivor 1 and Survivor 2 series for the pacing males will be featured on Saturday evening’s Watch and Wager LLC program at Cal Expo. Both races have full fields of 10 and offer $8,800 purses.
Take No Prisoners and L S Orchardwinner both looked strong getting the job done in their divisions of last week’s second leg of the Survivor 2, while four different pacers prevailed in the two legs of the Survivor 1 and that event looks wide open.
L S Orchardwinner races for Juan Pacheco, trainer Lester Smith and driver Chip Lackey and has left little doubt in his wins in the opening legs. He played the role of stalker in the first score, then immediately took matters into his owns hands last week and cruised home in coast-to-coast fashion by nine lengths.
Take No Prisoners has likewise proved clearly best in his two divisions of the opening legs with David Siegel guiding him on opening week and James Kennedy doing the honors last time for trainer Raul Escobedo. He lands the cozy rail for this assignment while L S Orchidwinner will do his work from the No. 8 slot.
You can make a strong case for many of the pacers in the Survivor 1 final, but Gene Vallandingham has them in the numbers department with four of his charges in the line-up, including last week’s upsetter Asgoodasioncewas with his owner/trainer handling the lines. The other Vallandingham trainees are Blissful Winds, to be guided by Paul Welence; Village Benjamin with Steve Wiseman; and Schemes, who has Tim Maier in the sulky.
A 15-race card is set for Saturday, with the Survivor finales going as the fifth and tenth events on the evening and a solid $5,000 conditioned contest in the 11th-race slot matching the likes of Ivegotwhatuneed and Haggin Oaks. First post time is 5:55 p.m.
