By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Silverhill Volo is feeling
awfully good these days, coming off back-to-back scores in the Open Trot over
something other than a firm surface.
The 8-year-old son of Muscle
Hill is owned, trained and driven by Chip Lackey and has accounted for the last
two clashes at the head of the class for the trotting set, one over a sloppy
track and the other over a course labelled good.
“I’ve had him a little over
two years,” Lackey noted. “He’s bred to be a good one. He’s by Muscle Hill, his
dam won the Hambletonian Oaks and he brought $170,000 as a yearling.”
Things didn’t get off to the
smoothest of starts when Chip bought the gelding back in November of 2016, but
he’s been a solid performer in the interim.
“When I first brought him to
Cal Expo from the Midwest, he had a real bad fever, but eventually he recovered
and he’s been a solid trotter for us.
“One of the things that used
to make my stomach churn is when we would turn to come to the gate and he would
switch from the pace to the trot,” Lackey informed. “It wasn’t always smooth,
but eventually it wasn’t a problem.
“Because of that, I was able
to lighten him up front, which has allowed me to leave with him and gives us
more options in the early part of the race.”
And what about his prowess on
off tracks?
“He’s a strong horse. I think
when the track gets tiring, it takes less of a toll on him and that’s why he
does so well.”
Lackey also related that
Silverhill Volo has a secret weapon, something you won’t see in the pedigree or
past performances.
“That would be his caretaker
Fern Wald. She deserves a ton of credit for what this horse has been able to do
here.”
Duly noted, Chip.
Distaff Open Pace,
Goudreau Prep featured
A $6,000 Filly and Mare Open
Pace that brings out Brighten Your Life and the Shelly Goudreau Prep are the
main events on Saturday evening’s Cal Expo program.
Watch and Wager LLC will
present 11 races, with the Open going as the third race and the Goudreau Prep
occupying the seventh-race slot, and things get under way at 6:10 p.m.
Brighten Your Life is a
6-year-old daughter of Shark Gesture out of the Falcon Seelster mare Our
Inheritance who is owned, trained and driven by Nate Sobey.
She came into last week’s top
dance for the pacing fillies and mares having finished second in six straight
outings, including the Alan Horowitz Final, but returned to her winning ways
with a huge effort over the sloppy going.
Leaving from the outside
post, Brighten Your Life brushed to command for Sobey with a big move before
the half, took complete control of things from that point and came home with
four and half-lengths to spare.
The Kathie Plested shedrow
will be strongly represented with Outrageiousdelightn and Dancingonthesand in
the line-up. Steve Wiseman will chauffeur the former and Mooney Svendsen has
the assignment behind Dancingonthesand.
Rounding out the cast for the
Open are Misspanderosajones, who will have the services of Dean Magee; and
Lookslikewemadeit, who leaves from the cozy rail slot with James Kennedy
guiding.
