by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Lemoyne “Mooney” Svendsen got his 2,500th driving victory in flashy fashion last Thursday night (March 3), lighting up the toteboard at $39 with the trotter Mighty Kicker in the evening’s finale.

Mighty Kicker, who is owned and trained by Robert Bell, is one of those performers who has seemingly been around forever. The 8-year-old Iowa-bred son of Kickin B has earned his $86,000 bankroll the old fashioned way, sporting a 1:58 career standard from four years ago.

“I’ve had Mighty Kicker for about three years now,” Bell related. “He tries to act mean around the barn, but he’s really a sweetheart and just likes to play around. On the track, he’s easy to drive and what you would call a grinder.”

Even with the one hole for his most recent assignment, Bell felt his veteran trotter might be in a bit deep, as this race came up extremely contentious for the level, and the public obviously felt the same way as they sent him off as an 18-1 shot.

“I told Mooney just to leave out of there and try to follow along, and as it turned out, he was in the two hole basically cutting out his own mile. He got brave when the leader came back to him and was able to get there in a pretty tight one.”

Bell and Svendsen see quite a bit of each other in the mornings, as they toil around the same shedrow.

“Mooney and I both work with the Bob Johnson barn, and he’s a real good guy. The fact that he got 2,500 on this horse made the win all the more special.”

The 52-year-old Svendsen got into the game in his native Minnesota when he was 16 years old, and cut his teeth on the trotters at the insistence of his father. He dedicated last week’s milestone win to his dad and his wife Jodi, who is currently fighting breast cancer.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (March 10) and continues through Saturday (March 12). Post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PST). Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6 p.m.