By Mark Ratzky, publicity –
Cal Expo Harness
The hard-hitting 12-year-old
trotter Franky Provolone is making his final start in Friday night’s fourth
race and it’s sure to be a bittersweet experience for his owner/trainer Robin
Clements.
“Franky has been a fan
favorite here at Cal Expo and Running Aces for many years, but he’s starting to
tell me that it’s time to retire,” Robin noted at entry time.
“After this last race he’ll
be sent to a friend of mine, Janet Scott and her two kids Carol and Cody in
Wilton, where he will retire with another standardbred named Continental for
company.
“Franky has been good to me
and he owes me nothing. It’s my position that he deserves to be retired to a
home where he will be safe and forever loved.”
For the record, Franky
Provolone comes into this weekend’s assignment with 297 starts on his card,
sporting 53 wins, 68 seconds and 62 thirds, with $254,000 in his bank account
and a 1:55 4/5 mark that was established five years ago.
By Armbro Scribe out of the
Donerail mare Simply Royal, he was bred on the Desomer Farm in Wilton and was
originally owned and raced by Rick Plano.
“I acquired Franky at the age
of 5 in April of 2012 out of a claimer for $3,750,” Clements said. “I raced him
one more time here at Cal Expo and then sent him to Running Aces in Minnesota
with Steve Wiseman and Kathie Plested.”
After racing once in a $4,500
claimer at Running Aces, Wiseman was approached about selling the trotter, but
Robin didn’t want to do that at the time.
“We then put him in a $6,000
claimer that didn’t fill,” the story continued. “The only other class was the
Open Trot in which he finished a strong third, and from that point on we knew
we had an Open trotter.”
Franky Provolone went on to
win 15 races that year while earning over $55,000 and was voted CHHA 2012 Horse
of the Year for his accomplishments.
“In 2017 and 2018, Franky was
enrolled in the Summer Fling Racing League at Running Aces where fans can
purchase a piece of a horse for the summer meet,” she added.
And how does Robin Clements
sum up this popular performer who will attending his last dance this weekend?
“He is a very sweet horse
with a kind soul who gave 110 percent on the track every time he raced.”
You can’t ask for more than
that.
Au Revoir, Open Trot
command spotlight
The Au Revoir Invite, which
will be the final start for the popular trotter Franky Provolone; and an Open
Trot featuring Its a Horse are the main events on Friday night’s Cal Expo
program.
There will be 12 contests on
the card, which is presented by Watch and Wager LLC, and things get underway at
6:10 p.m.
The Au Revoir, in addition to
being Franky Provolone’s final start, is unique in that it will match a pair of
trotters against four pacers, with Franks Best being the other trotter going up
against pacers Nevermissabeat, McCedes, Bos So Hot and Whatchamacallum.
The co-featured Open Trot
will find Its a Horse gunning for this fourth straight victory while leaving
from the assigned No. 10 post position in the field of seven. He is a
6-year-old son of Full Count who is owned by Ray Alan Miller, is trained by
Marco Rios and will once again be handled by Gerry Longo.
The Ohio-bred trotter made
his local debut on December 28 and posted a facile five and a quarter length
score at odds of 9-1 in an Open II affair, then moved up to the top level and
did an encore from well off the pace while again motoring away in the final
stages.
Its A Horse cut it much
closer in the most recent clash at the head of the trotting class, coming from
far back at the top of the lane to collar pace-setting Silverhill Volo by a
half-length.
The latter performer has been
runner-up in the last two top dances and accounted for the December 15 Open
while rewarding his many backers as the 1-2 choice. Chip Lackey owns, trains
and drives the 8-year-old son of Muscle Hill.
