by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — This weekend will find the second round of Sire Stakes action for the 2-year-olds at Cal-Expo, with the filly trotters and pacers in the spotlight on Friday (November 20) and the colt trotters and pacers doing battle Saturday (November 21).

Looking at the males, Dancing Barry and Franks Best have taken front and center in their respective divisions.

Dancing Barry made every pole a winning one in the initial big-money event for the pacers in a 1:57.3 tour for Rick Plano, while Franks Best lived up to the 1-5 backing in the trotting event as he also went gate-to-wire in a 5-1/2 length romp with Lemoyne Svendsen.

The filly pacing division is currently headed by So Relentless, who posted a 72-1 shocker for trainer Gordie Graham and driver Gilbert Herrera in the first stakes clash, and Upncoming Prospect, who was impressive in her elimination heat for Bruce Clarke but had to settle for the second prize in that first big-money gathering.

The distaff trotting stakes turned out to be strictly a two-horse affair, as Acapulco Gold for trainer Rocky Stidham and pilot Tim Maier hung a head decision on Betty Elizabeth for conditioner Lisa Pilcher and driver Gene Vallandingham after the former set a tracking journey behind the pace-setting Betty Elizabeth.

You can call her Betty Elizabeth

Betty Elizabeth, who only missed by a nose in the first stakes event for the 2-year-old trotting fillies two weeks ago, has always been precious according to her owner/breeder/trainer Lisa Pilcher.

“She was born on a cold, rainy night and her birth only took an hour,” related Pilcher when asked about the dark-hued daughter of Panama Hanover and the Sacramento mare Eggcellent. “Just moments after her birth, she surprised me when I reached down to dry her with a towel and she jumped up to her mom and began to nurse.”

That was apparently a peek at things to come for Betty Elizabeth.

“At three weeks, she started to show her athletic ability by trotting circles around her peers and then later on as a yearling she displayed her leadership skills by taking charge of the pasture, just as her mother does by being leading mare,” Pilcher continued.

Unlike mom, however, Lisa points out that Betty Elizabeth is a cool customer on the racetrack.

“Her dam had a nervous, competitive nature, but this filly displayed a calm demeanor in her first start in that stakes. She cut the mile and fought to the end for Gene (Vallandingham). He said she improves with every start and he feels she has a bright future as an Open mare.

“She actually makes things pretty easy for me. She has that natural gate speed, wears very little equipment, loves her job and enjoys her life at the farm. I’ll continue with her current training schedule, while she shares her six-stall barn with her companion, Roxy the pot-belly pig.”

Pilcher’s modus operandi with Betty Elizabeth finds the eight-mile ship to the track three to four days a week for slow jogging miles and faster training spins, while her other preparations include working on the Eurociser 2 and plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

“When I stood Panama Hanover during his first year at stud, his owners, the Budhans, and I felt that he had exceptional stallion potential,” Lisa noted. “In April, after Betty Elizabeth went an exciting training mile, I bred both Final Choice’s dam (Finale) and Eggcellence back to Panama.”

Castle Oaks ready for her close-up

There’s a new queen among the sophomore pacing fillies, as Castle Oaks has been promoted from bit player to leading lady over the past few weeks.

Coming into the first round of fall Sire Stakes on October 30, the Hi Ho Silverheel’s homebred had three wins to go along with a dozen runner-up finishes and was still in search of her first trophy.

Castle Oaks has posed for pictures following the last two big-money affairs, however, much to the delight of owner/breeders Alan Kirschenbaum and driver/trainer Tim Maier. She lowered her career standard to 1:55.1 with her most recent score.

“She has some credentials pedigree-wise,” related Kirschenbaum. “She’s a full sister to Hi Ho Molly, who’s one of the fastest horses I’ve ever raced. She won a bunch of Indiana Sire Stakes as well as filly and mare Opens out here. But if Hi Ho Molly was the flashy sister, then Castle Oaks is more of a Plain Jane.

“Timmy is always patient with the young horses and they tend to get better as 3-year-olds, which is a strategy I’m extremely comfortable with. Even though she wasn’t accomplishing much last year, he always said she would follow along training, and then as she got to the three-quarter pole, she would swell up and finish hard.”

While that style was earning her plenty of minor awards, Castle Oaks wasn’t getting the job done often. That’s all changed with the back-to-back stakes tallies in sharp fashion.

“She’s learned to leave a little, which is important in these stakes races. You want to get out in front of the longshots, and not have them positioned in between you and the contenders.

“She also seems to be more aggressive as she gets older. Where she used to gap a little and dawdle along, the last few weeks she’s taken a hold and tracked along nose-to-helmet. I don’t think she’s quite Hi Ho Molly yet, and she probably never will be, but she tries and does her best ever week. She’s a pleasure to have bred and owned.”

Tremblay has soft spot for trotters

When it comes to a preference for training trotters or pacers, it’s like father like daughter for Nathalie Tremblay.

“My father had a lot of very good trotters and pacers, but he always preferred the trotters and I feel the same way,” explained Tremblay, who has carried on the family tradition for her late father Nicol. At the moment, her shedrow consists of 14 performers, equally divided between the two gaits.

“My father always said he enjoyed sitting behind a trotter more than a pacer, and he also liked watching a trot more, and I have to agree. Trotters may be more of a challenge than pacers, but they’re worth the extra work.

“The key is keep them from being too high-strung, because when they go out there and do it nice and easy, they can be just as smooth as a pacer. You can find out a lot about what they need by not only sitting behind them, but also watching them go around the track. I’ve found that if a trotter has trouble getting up to speed and catching the gate, trying heavier shoes or adding the trotting hopples can make all the difference. There are a lot of things you can do with the equipment to get them to do their best.”

This isn’t to say our subject doesn’t enjoy working with the pacing set, which makes up half her barn at the moment.

“I like working with both. Of course, generally speaking pacers are going to be easier to train, and sometimes it just comes down to having the proper length on their hopples and keeping them happy.”

Nathalie also points out that it’s best to get your hands on a trotter when they’re young, when they’re still impressionable and open to learning.

“There’s a saying that you can’t teach an old trotter new tricks, and that’s pretty much true. It’s much easier to try and change an older pacer.”

Jam And Jelly from the shadows

George Reider’s barn is represented by two very nice mares in Sunday’s (November 22) Open Trot, with TV Mom and Jam And Jelly carrying the stable’s hopes in the headliner.

While Maurice Sigmon’s TV Mom gets most of the press after coming off back-to-back decisions at the top rung, Jam And Jelly has been the gift that keeps on giving for George, who co-owns the 5-year-old mare with his brother Richard.

“I found her about two years ago in Indiana for $4,000, and it’s worked out real well,” her mentor said. Jam And Jelly has won 10 races during the interim while banking some $58,000 in the process.

“She’s had to race in TV Mom’s shadow, but that’s okay,” Reider said. “I just loving putting a bridle on her, because she gives her best each and every time. The thing with her is that you have to keep her happy, basically train her attitude as much as anything physical.”

The bay miss has her work cut out in Sunday’s top trot, with her stablemate and Cherry Tree Luke to her outside and the Midwest invader Rally By The River and hard-knockers Fox Harbor and Calzone to her inside.

“She is what she is, about a 1:57 trotter, and she’ll try hard.”

A reminder that next week’s holiday schedule will find no live racing on Thanksgiving, November 26, with the trotters and pacers in action on Friday (November 27), Saturday (November 28) and Sunday (November 29). The following week will see a return to the regular Thursday through Sunday schedule.