California Sires Stakes for 3-year-old colts & geldings, on both the pace and trot, were contested with a purse on each of $22,500, in which Little Box Out and Hitchiker found themselves in the winner’s circle once again.

On the pacing side, prior to starting from post-position four in the field of ten, driver Luke Plano had several reasons to be optimistic.

“My horse has been in good form and I thought he had a pretty good chance,” said Plano. “The horse to beat was Axelrod (Jim Lackey), but he had the nine-hole and I thought that I could benefit if Axelrod had to be used too much early. I opted to leave, but then aborted that idea because the horses to my inside were pushing pretty hard.”

Softly taking back and settling in fifth after an eighth of a mile, Little Box Out would find himself five lengths back at the quarter-mile pole, timed in :28.1, all while Endofanera (Lou Pena) was moving up for the lead that Long Last Look (Kevin Anderson) currently had. At the same time, False Accusations (Rick Kuebler) was quarter-moving, as was Axelrod, who had briefly tucked in behind Little Box Out in the first-turn.

“There was a lot going on and I didn’t think that once Endofanera made the lead that he would let False Accusations go–so I had to be patient. Before I knew it though, Axelrod was already at my wheel. As a result, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do at the time. I thought, however, that I was going to benefit from all the action. The downside though was that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get out.”

That opportunity to get out almost became available at the 7-16ths mile pole, but Plano explains otherwise.

“There was a chance to pull at the 7-16ths mile pole, but I didn’t think there was enough room because Fast Tempo (Bruce Clarke) was coming up on my outside. At that point, I continued to have to be as patient as possible, as I didn’t know if, or when, I was going to get out.”

Shuffled to seventh and buried while 5 lengths back at the half-mile pole, timed in 56.2, Plano had reason to be worried.

“My horse felt very good at the half, but my obvious concern was that I was not going to be able to get a fair shake.”

The good news for Little Box Out and Plano was there was a battle taking place for the lead in the final-turn between Endofanera and a parked-out False Accusations. The bad news was that Little Box Out was still hopelessly locked in, all while Axelrod was getting a golden second-over trip.

“In the middle of the final-turn he had a lot of pace, but I had to take a hold of him because I didn’t have room. My main objective was to get to Axelrod’s back, but I had no chance at that point to do that.”

Sneaking out at the three-quarter mile pole, timed in 1:25.2, Plano had more good and bad news.

“He had a ton of pace, but we didn’t have a whole lot of room to maneuver. I knew if I found room that he’d have a legitimate chance because he was absolutely loaded.”

Gaining quickly to the top of the stretch, Plano knew what needed to happen.

“I was still sort of trapped and was weaving in and out trying to find a spot. Then I got a seam to the seven-eighths mile pole, but I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get to Axelrod, who at that point had moved up for the lead. When my horse saw that seam, he shot through that gap as quick as a horse could while going as fast as he could go. I still, however, wasn’t sure if I could catch Axelrod in time.”

Urged to mid-stretch and now closing very fast, Plano could finally ask his charge to go.

“As soon as I could finally give him his head in the late going, that’s when he really took off. He was strong through the wire–which was good–because I never really got to Axelrod until the last step.”

Wearing down a game Axelrod at the wire to win by a head, the Norman Honath and Leon smith owned gelding stopped the timer at 1:53.3, a lifetime best.

“It was another good race and he continues to impress me every start,” Plano finished.

For trainer Lester Smith, he couldn’t be more jubilant.

“This horse is getting good and Luke has been driving him super. It’s nice to have a horse like this, especially since my brother Leon owns half of him. Having a horse like this makes me feel like I want to fly,” concluded a proud smiling Smith.

Axelrod had to settle for second, and Endofanera, who raced well, was another 2-1/2 lengths back, in third.

The 14 race card started off with a Sires Stakes for the trotters, in which the unbeaten Hitchiker continued his unbelievable dominance.

Bred and owned by the Desomer Stables, and trained by Vickie Desomer, the Tien Desomer driven pacing bred would cut fractions of 29.4, 58.2, and 1:28, while on his way to overwhelmingly defeating his seven other counter parts by a mind-boggling 25-1/4 lengths, in 1:58.1, his eighth in-a-row. In his eight career starts, Hitchiker’s combined margin of victory is an astonishing 135 lengths, with an average winning margin of just under an amazing 17 lengths per race.