By
Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Alwaysalittlemore,
a dominating front-end victress the last time the top pacing fillies and mares
got together, gets the marquee treatment in Saturday evening’s $6,700 main
event.
The
Filly and Mare Open will go as the third on an 11-race Watch and Wager LLC card
that gets underway at 6:10 p.m.
Alwaysalittlemore
is a 6-year-old daughter of Always A Virgin who carries the banner of Maria
Alvarez and Terrence Smith with Edward Hernandez training and Luke Plano once
again at the helm.
The
hard-knocking bay miss closed out 2019 with romping conditioned victory and has
ended up in the charmed enclosure following three of her six trips to the post
this season. She recently went over the $100,000 earnings mark and set her 1:52
3/5 standard here on January 18.
Her
most recent appearance came two weeks ago in the Distaff Open and she made 3-1
look like a gift as she made every pole a winning one with Plano while coming
to the wire with four and a half lengths on her nearest rival.
Taking
her on are Royal Mistress, Dancingonthesand, Delightfully Wild, Virgin Eyes and
Surprisingly Sweet.
James
Marshall IV charting his course
James
Marshall IV is another new face in the driver’s room here this season, with the
highlight thus far being his Open victories behind the Jenna Cornelison-trained
Bright Your Life.
“I
got the opportunity to drive for Jenna and I wanted to see California,” said
the 34-year-old New Jersey native.
Even
though James came to the sport full time at a bit older age that many, he
certainly has a harness racing pedigree as his mother and father are heavily
involved as were his paternal grandparents.
“I’ve
driven over different-sized tracks, but I would have to see I prefer the mile
ones like Cal Expo because those are the tracks I’ve raced over the most,” he
noted.
“Having
said that, just give me an inside post and I’m happy to be driving over any
size.”
The
biggest change for James has been driving mostly pacers, where he previously
did a lot of his steering behind the trotting set, including several Billings
competitions.
The
7-year-old pacing mare Brighten Your Life has certainly been the highlight to
this point in the stand, including a coast-to-coast victory on January 10 over
the best disaffers on the grounds.
