by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo
Sacramento, CA — A Girl Named Fred has been getting her share of attention at this current Cal Expo meeting, and not just for that unusual name. The 3-year-old pacing filly has left little doubt in either of her two victories, doing the stalk-and-pounce to perfection with Steve Wiseman at the controls.
Gary Pond owns and bred this daughter of Cammibest, the second to the races for his top mare Medora Hanover. She didn’t make her first appearance until this summer, but she’s certainly making up for lost time with three straight victories dating back to June and the end of the spring session.
“I bought Medora Hanover out of the Meadows sale as a yearling and she won $124,000 for us,” Pond related. “Her first foal was Drama Princess, and she’s also by Cammibest and raced in some stakes races back East. A Girl Named Fred is a lot like her mother, because they were both a little slow to mature, so she didn’t get started until this spring. She’s also like Medora Hanover in that she does her best when she can sit back early and finish.”
The bay miss has done just that in her two appearances since racing returned here. It was 2-3/4 lengths back to the nearest rival on opening week, then she overcame the No. 8 post to prove a punctual even-money favorite at her most recent asking with Wiseman.
“She spent the summer with us at the farm and then she shipped back up here the day before the qualifier,” Pond said. “She got what she needed out of the qualifier, and both of her races have been solid. The fields may have been a little on the soft side, but we’ll take any wins we can get and then move up one class at a time.”
Of course, a discussion about A Girl Named Fred wouldn’t be complete without asking about the name.
“Around our place, any animal that doesn’t have a name is called Fred,” Pond explained. “I’ve been threatening to name a racehorse Fred for a long time, and when this one came along it looked like it might be my last, so this is what we came up with.”
Mystery solved.
Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (September 9) and Saturday (September 10) at 6 p.m. (PDT).