by Scott Ehrlich, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — He didn’t have racing room until the stretch, but once Hard On The Heart got daylight, it was Katie Bar The Door.

Claiming handicap pacers, racing for a purse of $6,300, while in to be claimed from $15,000 to $20,000, were featured at Cal-Expo on Thursday night (May 22), in which Hard On The Heart was fastest of all.

Before starting from post position three in the field of six, driver Luke Plano knew who one of the horses was to beat despite a class rise, but wasn’t sure how the race was going to shape up.

“I thought my horse was as good as any,” said Plano. “It was an interesting race though because the race was very competitive, plus position would play a big role given what appeared to be a good deal of speed in the race.”

Coming away in fourth position into a :27.3 first quarter, with Machine Maker (James Kennedy) at his flank, Hard On The Heart found himself fifth at the half-mile station, timed in :56.1, with Machine Maker now parked just in front of him.

“My plans were to stay inside at that point because I knew Machine Maker had been out since the start, and I figured he’d tire at some point.”

Remaining in fifth position and still lacking racing room, while now at the three-quarter pole, timed in 1:24.4, Plano simply had to be patient.

“My horse had a lot of pace at the three-quarters, I was just looking for a little seam somewhere.”

Free in the two path to the seven-eighths pole and under a drive, Plano now had to make sure he drove his charge accordingly.

“He was loaded when I got room, but he always drifts out quite a bit in the lane, so I sort of had to take my time getting through the hole. Once I got through, I was able to loosen up on him and he was strong to the wire.”

Flying between horses with less than a sixteenth of a mile to go, Hard On The Heart would scoot by his foes to win ($9.60) by 1-1/4 lengths. Mac Jonathan VP (Gilbert Herrera) finished in second, and the pacesetting RD Khaki (Rocky Stidham) just held third, while another 1-3/4 lengths farther back.

Leased by Jill Wine, and trained by Tom Wine ll, Hard On The Heart would stop the timer at 1:53.4, thus recording his 41st career triumph. The training victory for Wine was the middle portion of a conditioning triple.

“He was coming off a couple of good wins, he raced well tonight, and he’s in sharp form,” finished Plano.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Friday (May 23) at 6:15 p.m. (PDT) and on Saturday (May 24) at 6:20 p.m. On Friday, Cal-Expo offers Happy Hour between 6:00-8:00 p.m., where $1 beer, $2 wine and $3 orders of buffalo wings are offered.

The Pick-Six at Cal-Expo is now a $1 wager.