ROAD TRIP ON TAP FOR WILLEY’S TROTTER
By
Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
K D
Amazin Spirit will be seeking his ninth win on the year from 13 attempts in
Friday night’s Open Trot, and owner/breeder/trainer Keith Willey reports he
will soon be taking his act on the road.
The
7-year-old son of Thadrow was born on Willey’s farm, some 32 miles from Cal
Expo, and has spent his entire life somewhere between those two points. That is
all going to change when the meet ends here at the end of the month, as a
32-hour van ride is in his future.
“He’s
going to Running Aces in Minnesota with Nathalie Tremblay,” Willey informed.
“This will be the first time he’s ever done any traveling and the first time
he’ll be racing over a five-eighths track. It should be interesting.”
K D
Amazin Spirit is certainly at the top of his game right now. He is coming off
arguably the most impressive mile of his career, as he blitzed an Open II group
on April 27 in an eye-catching 1:54 2/5 performance with Scott Cisco at the
controls. The tour not only shaved two and one-fifth seconds off his lifetime
mark, but was only two ticks off Bolivar’s track record.
“He’s
always been versatile as far as racing style goes, and he’s just gotten better
with age,” his mentor noted. “That was a pretty impressive mile the other night
and he didn’t get tired until the very end, when he started flashing his tail.
I think he was looking for more.”
Willey
related that he actually didn’t think K D Amazin Spirit was going to be racing
that weekend, and had brought him home to the farm for some R and R. When an
Open II event ended up going, it turned out to just be a two-day homecoming and
he went that blistering mile to make 40 cents on the dollar look like a
gift.
K D AMAZIN
SPIRIT HEADS OPEN TROT
K D
Amazin Spirit, who is going in razor-sharp form at the moment for owner/breeder
trainer Keith Willey; has been assigned the outside post and gets top billing
in Friday evening’s featured $6,000 Open Trot at Cal Expo.
K D
Amazin Spirit coming off a sizzling 1:54 2/5 score under Open II conditions,
which obliterated his previous mark and was only two-fifths of a second off
Bolivar’s track record. Keith Wiilley
owns, trains and bred the 7-year-old son of Thadrow and Scott Cisco will be
back in the sulky. He is closing in on $90,000 earnings mark and is going in
the sharpest form of his career.
Versatility
is this trotter’s strong suit, as he has proven he can get the job done on the
engine, from a stalking position or from the back of the pack if tactics
dictate. In his most recent appearance on April 27, Cisco put the 2-5 choice
right on the lead, he carved out the sharp fractions without challenge and came
home with four and a quarter lengths to spare.
Franky
Provolone has gone a series of outstanding miles over this layout and could
prove to be the main rival for owner Robin Clements, trainer Vickie Desomer.
The hard-hitting performer is fresh from being named the CHHA's 2012 horse of
the year and was the seventh winningest trotter in the country last season with
15 wins out of 41 starts.
Stars
and Glides was third in the Stan Bergstein Trot behind El Azteca and I Love New
York and was runner-up to K D Amazin Spirit last weekend. Bruce Clarke reins
and trains the Master Glide gelding for Jack Coffey and Trace Pole and his most
recent trip to the winner’s circle came following a March 29 conditioned affair
in which he proved a punctual 3-5 favorite.
Completing
the field are a pair of Bob Johnson trainees in Franks Best and Inside
Broadway, who leave from the inside two post positions. A 13-race card is on
tap with the headliner set as the opener on the program. The action continues
Saturday night with One And Only headlining the Open Pace
There
are three wagers offered here at Cal Expo with a reduced 16 percent takeout
rate and a carryover provision. They are the 50-cent Pick 5; the $1 Pick 4 with
a $20,000-guaranteed pool on Fridays and a $25,000 guarantee on Saturdays; and
the 10-cent High 5 on the finale.
