by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — The first stakes events of the season for the 2-year-olds are upon us, and Gordie Graham will be sending out the Frank Nevarez homebred Whip And A Prayer in Friday night’s (Oct. 8) $15,000 clash for the 2-year-old pacing fillies at Cal-Expo.

A dark-hued daughter of Hi Ho Silverheel’s, Whip And A Prayer has a pair of third-place finishes to show from her initial two trips to the post, improving her clocking with each appearance while coming home in a solid :28.1 last week for Rich Wojcio.

“She may be the smallest filly in the field, but she gives everything she has,” Graham related. “I’m actually very pleased with where we are with her right now, because for the first six months she was something of a holy terror.”

The Nevarez colorbearer has finished both her races faster than she started them, most recently coming up just a length short behind the debuting Hi Fidelity and Dine N Wine, both of whom will be among her rivals this time around with the big money on the line.

“The experience is certainly going to help, and those first two races were definitely preps, because we haven’t even popped the earplugs on her yet,” Graham said. “I only wish we wouldn’t have drawn the outside, with the favorites in the one and three posts.

“Rich likes her quite a bit and we know she can finish, though, and I’d love to see them doing some battling up front at some point. She’s trained real well and now we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (Oct. 7) and continues through Saturday (Oct. 9). Approximate post time is 5:45 p.m. (PDT).