By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Owners Richard Morita and
David Yamada and trainer Lino Pacheco certainly have major players at the top
of the pacing ranks right now with Bettor Lady and Pancetta representing their
interests.
Bettor Lady has put together
three straight big miles here, including a victory in the February 23 Filly and
Mare Open and a fast-closing runner-up finish in last week’s battle at the head
of the class behind Capitol Hill.
Pancetta, who has $470,000 in
his bank account and a 1:51 1/5 career standard, is still going strong at age
10 and is fresh from a second and a third-place finish in the last two Open
Paces.
“We purchased Pancetta out of
a sale in the fall of his 3-year-old year,” co-owner Morita noted. “He showed a
nice brush of speed racing in Pennsylvania, but seemed to want to overpace
himself trying to hit top speed right away.
“Lino took some time to
settle him down and he put in some nice miles at Cal Expo. At that point, Dave
and I decided to take a shot and nominated him into the Sagamore late closer at
Yonkers. He went on to race great and took the series final with Brian Sears
driving and Brandon Todd doing the training.
“That almost $80,000 final
was by far the largest purse we had run for. He continued to race at Yonkers,
taking down a number of races at the top level. He is a superior horse on the
small tracks.
“As for Bettor Lady, we
bought this tiny filly about a year and a half ago. She’s moved right up the
ladder and has a huge heart, as she showed in the two nose victories. We think
she has a great future racing and may give her a shot back east sometime later
this year. What she lacks in size, she makes up for with grit.”
King Of The Crop heads
Open Pace
King Of The Crop, going in
razor-sharp form at the moment, headlines Saturday night’s featured $7,000 Open
Pace.
A 12-race card is on tap
under the banner of Watch and Wager LLC with first post at 6:10 p.m. and there
will also be three California Sire Stakes for 3-year-olds going as non-betting
events prior to the regular card.
King Of The Crop is having an
outstanding year thus far, accounting for three of the last six Open Paces for
owners Don and Barbara Arnstine, Steve Chambers and Kathie Plested with Plested
training and Steve Wiseman at the controls.
The 8-year-old son of Little
Steven is a multiple Sire Stakes winner with $170,000 in earnings and a 1:50
4/5 mark that was set two years ago. Sent off the 6-5 choice in the top dance
two weeks ago, King Of The Crop came from well back to be up by a head over
Pancetta in a 1:52 4/5 tour.
Eastender is an 8-year-old
Cheyenne Rei gelding who is owned by Maryann Plano and Nikki Hudson and is
reined and trained by Luke Plano. He comes into this contest having won
back-to-back starts, including a 23-1 upset in last week’s Open.
Plano was able to leave into
a pocket journey with Eastender that night, tracked the leader to the drive and
then came home smartly to prevail by a length over Blue Star Maverick in a 1:53
mile.
Completing the field are
Bettor In The Bank, Pancetta, Why Ash Why, Blue Star Maverick and I’m An
Athlete.
