By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
An
Open II Pace that finds Ponda’s Prospect well positioned to earn his first
victory at this meet and an Open II Trot headed by Mandeville, Flameon and
Major Al-Mar get the marquee treatment Sunday evening at Cal Expo.
Watch
and Wager LLC will present 12 races with first post at 4:50 p.m. The pacing
feature goes as the fourth race, while the trotting headliner is the sixth
event on the card.
Ponda’s
Prospect has been knocking on the door in his last three appearances and should
be putting in a strong late move with this group. Luke Plano trains and drives
the 7-year-old Shadyshark Hanover gelding, who has a 1:51 lifetime standard
that was established at Hawthorne.
He
has had the misfortune of lining up against the red-hot Allmyx’sliventexas in
all four of his appearances at this stand, coming away with a second and two
thirds, with the runner-up finish coming in the December 11 Dave Goldschmidt
Pace over a sloppy track.
Looking
at the co-featured trot, Mandeville is will appreciate Silverhill Volo being
absent as he makes his third start at the meet since coming in from Kentucky.
The 9-year-old is owned, reined and trained by Gerry Longo and set his 1:54
lifetime mark this summer at Running Aces.
Major
Al-Mar scored back-to-back victories here last month before checking in fourth
last week in the Open behind Silverhill Volo. Amy Fichtner and Vikki
Pfeilsticker own, Richard Bertrand trains and Cordarious Stewart has the return
assignment.
Flameon
was runner-up behind Silverhill Volo in last week’s clash at the top rung, his
third straight exacta completion. The 11-year-old Angus Hall gelding competes
for Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham barn and will have Jacob
Cutting at the helm.
A
pocket rocket is powerful
Shakespeare
wrote, “The play’s the thing”, but if he was a harness driver instead of the
greatest author of all time, he would have changed that to, “The trip’s the
thing.”
That
was certainly the case with Bertha Vanation in last week’s Filly and Mare Open,
as Nick Roland worked out a perfect two-hole journey from an inside post with
the pacing distaffer and she was up by a nose over Brighten Your Life for the
$52 surprise.
Taking
nothing away from the winner, it was Brighten Your Life and Tony Succarotte who
did all the heavy lifting in that mile and suffered the toughest of beats.
Brighten
Your Life is an 8-year-old daughter of Shark Gesture who is owned by Tyler
Gunderson and Jenna Cornelison and is conditioned by Cornelison. She has
$163,000 in the bank and her 1:53 1/5 mark was established here last season.
Cornelison
is a Sacramento native who got her original education in the sport while
working with Gene Vallandingham. “Gene had a pacer named Run Baby Run who I got
as a riding horse and in 2005 I ended up going to work with him here at Cal
Expo,” Jenna related. “In 2007 I went back East with Pete Foley and spent four
years at Pocono.”
Cornelison
was out of the game for a brief period, but returned in 2012 and eventually
came back to California to once again work at the Vallandingham barn.
“I
just love coming out here each morning and having those heads sticking out and
waiting for me. The real satisfaction comes after putting in all that work,
sometimes in the cold and rain, and then watching them go out there and give
everything they have in a race. It’s very rewarding.”
