by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Next month at Cal-Expo will find a series named for the brilliant pacing mare Doodlin, who campaigned for The Gusty Stable of the late Dr. Gary Budahn. Her regular pilot was Rick Kuebler.

Kuebler retired last year as one of the most accomplished and respected drivers in California harness racing history, with 4,284 trips to the winner’s circle and over $19.6 million in earnings.

“I always thought Gary Budahn was the finest, most complete horseman I ever knew,” Kuebler said.

Doodlin was a mainstay of the distaff pacing ranks at this track and Los Alamitos for many years, giving Kuebler several memorable victories.

“I remember driving her as a 2-year-old when she would finish slowly because of a breathing problem. Gary worked on that, and the fact that she had a tendency to tie up.

“She eventually became the dominant 3-year-old in the stakes and the dominant free-for-all mare. I drove her virtually every start of her career, even flying to Canada where she won a stakes race, and then on to my only appearance in a Breeders Crown event.”

We also took the opportunity to catch up with what Rick Kuebler is doing these days.

“I’m co-producing some television commercials for my brother-in-law with an eye on doing a feature from a screenplay I’ve written. If you know anybody with a spare million dollars, let me know.”

Saturday night will feature the $7,500 finale of the TVG Amateur Driver series, with opening leg winners Magicality, Long Last Look and LS Orchardwinner heading the cast in what figures to be an extremely contentious event.

TVG is a proud sponsor to the series, while TrackMaster is showing their support for the event by offering free programs and selections at www.trackmaster.com/calx.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (Sept. 23) and continues through Saturday (Sept. 25). Post time on Thursday is at 5:40 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday (Sept. 24) is at 6 p.m. Approximate post time on Saturday is 5:45 p.m.