by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness

Sacramento, CA — When Don’t Hurry Love captured the first leg of the Bob Staats Pacing Series last weekend, it marked a victorious return to racing for owner Ed Actkinson, who was watching his first starter in some 15 years. For good measure, he added a tally with the trotter Chevie Balboa a bit later on the same program.

“Ed is retired now and called me and said he wanted to get back in the game,” trainer Bob Johnson related. “We had a lot of very nice horses over the years, Bonefide Boy being one of our favorites, and won our share of stakes races together. He also had a lot of awfully good ones that came in from Australia and New Zealand.”

When Johnson head that Danny Shetler had some horses for sale in Indiana, he figured the timing was right to get Actkinson back into the sport. “The Indiana horses usually do very well out here, and it’s especially nice when they still have lots of conditions like these two. So far it’s worked out pretty well.”

Despite shipping in from Indiana Downs, missing a couple of starts and catching a sloppy track, Don’t Hurry Love was ready to rock and roll in the opening leg of Staats with Mooney Svendsen at the controls. She came out to attack favored pacesetter Rd Iou past the half, collared that one at midstretch and came away by 1-3/4 lengths when all was said and done.

“She had trained real well, so I wasn’t concerned about the missed time,” Johnson said. “You always have to worry when they catch an off track, but it really wasn’t all that bad that night. Mooney said afterwards he thought she was a real nice filly.”

Johnson mentioned that it was also very gratifying to win a race named after the late owner/breeder Bob Staats, a mainstay in California for many years and a client in the Johnson barn.

“Bob was a good guy with a lot of very nice horses and he was one of those people who were always thinking about what was in the best interest of the game.”