by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Haggin Oaks has been an outstanding competitor at Cal Expo for owners Shari Burns, Ferris Funk and Gerald Cimini and driver/trainer James Kennedy, with multiple stakes trophies on the mantle, more than $80,000 in the bank and a 1:53.2 career standard.

The 5-year-old pacing daughter of Hi Ho Silverheel’s was bred by Alan Kirschenbaum, and this is where co-owner Burns picks up the story.

“It has truly been a pleasure to care for some really great horses in my lifetime, and currently we have a really special mare in Haggin Oaks, who is known as Liza.

“I was born into the world of horses and I have been involved with the Standardbred industry for the past 20 years. Eight years ago I was asked to manage Alan Kirschenbaum’s breeding farm in Wilton, where we have Little Steven, British Sterling and a small, but very nice broodmare band.”

A number of fine trotters and pacers have come out of the Kirschenbaum breeding operation, and in 2007 Haggin Oaks came along. Out of Ladyladybemylady, making her Little Steven’s half-sister, she ended up with the Burns, Funk and Cimini combination while eventually becoming James Kennedy’s first trainee.

“It was time to start making arrangements for everybody to leave the farm and start off their new careers, and nobody had chosen this little filly,” Burns explained. “This where the dream begins. I loved her conformation and her personality in the field, but as everybody knows, sometimes this doesn’t mean a thing. Gerald Cimini had approached my husband Ferris a few months earlier about finding a horse and going into partnership, and away we went with Liza.”

Liza, aka Haggin Oaks, got her initial education from Lester Smith where she learned the early ropes.

“She was a really tough youngster, even a bit unruly at times,” Burns noted. “She had trouble learning to pace with her nervousness, and we knew as a partnership she was going to need someone with a lot of patience. James was just starting to branch out on his own and he took her under his patient wing. Liza took quite a bit of figuring out, but James would take her on daily walks for grass and have heart-to-heart talks.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Haggin Oaks has a number of Sire Stakes trophies in her case and will be looking for her second straight win at the head of the pacing class in Saturday night’s (Oct. 8) second race.

“I personally get the most enjoyment out of watching a beautiful little filly come into the world, getting through all the disciplines of becoming a race horse and making a dream come true for her breeder, three owners, a very patient driver/trainer and a caring groom.”

Live racing resumes on Friday (Oct. 7) and Saturday (Oct. 8) at 6 p.m. (PDT).