by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Steve and Vickie Desomer will have representatives in three of the four Sire Stakes this weekend at Cal Expo and are looking to come away with some nice prize money.

Dine N Wine figures to be well backed in a very contentious filly pace on Friday night (May 20), while Claim Jumper and Dancinwiththedevil will suit up in the filly trot on that program. The Desomers will take three shots against Shamderock in the colt pace on Saturday (May 21) with No Strings, Spoons and Achy Breaky Art challenging Rick Plano’s juggernaut.

Dine N Wine is a daughter of Power Of Art who has a second, third and a fourth in the three big-money clashes this season. She opened a clear lead in the lane in last week’s mile, but was nailed on the wire by Math Wiz.

“Dine N Wine is improving and with a decent draw, should be a contender,” Vickie Desomer related. “I have to say she had her chance last week and just wasn’t quite good enough against Math Wiz.”

Claim Jumper is the most accomplished of the Team Desomer home-breds this weekend, as she captured two of the four stakes races for the filly trotters last season and in the process was named champion. She also got the job done in the first two Sire Stakes this year, then had to settle for the runner-up check in the most recent clash two weeks ago as Plano’s Thatssomebracciola tracked her to the drive and was up in the late stages.

“We’ll try Rick’s filly again and Claim Jumper is certainly our best chance,” her trainer noted. “She’s been a consistent trotter for us. As far as Dancinwiththedevil, she just hasn’t got it together yet.”

While there is the safety in numbers angle with a trio carrying the Desomer banner, no question the most daunting task comes in Saturday’s colt pace. The aforementioned Shamderock is a budding star who has rattled off seven wins in a row and is looking to continue a clean sweep of the trophy events for this division.

“We’ll have three in there,” Desomer said. “Spoons is the best of them, but it looks like he’s going to be a bridesmaid once again. Achy Breaky Art is ruined by the detention barn, and No Strings can’t go enough at this point.”

Sire Stakes bring out top sophomore fillies

A pair of $15,000 California Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old fillies top the Friday (May 20) program at Cal Expo, with Math Wiz, Dine N Wine and Whip And A Prayer heading the contest for the pacers, while Thatssomebracciola and Claim Jumper are the major players in the trotting event.

Math Wiz is a homebred daughter of Distinguishedbaron out of the Artsplace mare Aftermath who races for Wayne and Rod Knittel with Rick Plano conditioning and Luke Plano at the controls. She is making only her fifth start and is seeking her fourth victory. The bay miss posted an 8-1 upset over this group in the stakes elimination off a live cover trip, then came back last week to earn her initial trophy while nailing Dine N Wine by a head with another big finish.

Dine N Wine is a Desomer Stables homebred by Power Of Art who just missed in last week’s big dance after opening a clear lead in the stretch with Steve Wiseman in the sulky. She was fourth in the previous added-money clash while coming from far back after leaving from the tough 10 slot.

Whip And A Prayer is eyeing her third stakes score for owner/breeder Frank Nevarez, trainer Gordie Graham and pilot Rich Wojcio. She established her mark of 1:58.1 in capturing the April 8 Sire Stakes and has been second and fourth in the last two big-money events.

Rounding out the line-up are Hi Princess Deara (Rick Plano), Feetdontfailmenow (Tony Succarotte), Poor House (Lemoyne Svendsen) and Racetrack Diva (Steve Wiseman).

Looking at the trotting affair, Claim Jumper accounted for two of the stakes for this group last season and captured the first two added-money races of 2011, but had to settle for second to Thatssomebracciola in the most recent get-together two weeks ago.

Claim Jumper is an Armbro Variable homebred who has Steve Desomer at the helm, while Thatssomebracciola is a daughter of Armbro Scribe who is owned, trained, driven and was bred by Rick Plano.

Completing the field are Dancinwiththedevil (Steve Wiseman), Eggwhite Inmy Beer (James Kennedy), Dancergirl (Rocky Stidham) and Chaxie (Luke Plano).

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (May 19) and continues through Saturday (May 21). Post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6 p.m.