by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness

Sacramento, CA — Frank’s Best is the type of trotter that has everybody in the race looking over their shoulders when the racing gets serious, having used his long-fused tactics to put nearly $180,000 in the bank for his owner/trainer/breeder Bob Johnson.

“That’s his cup of tea,” driver Mooney Svendsen explained when asked about the 6-year-old son of Armbro Scribe. “You give him any kind of trip to the stretch and he’ll give you a :27 and change final quarter. He loves to race and he absolutely loves this track.”

While Franks Best had raced strictly to that wait until the stretch style in his first three starts at this meet, Svendsen decided to take a little different tact and moved much earlier with his charge in last week’s clash in the Open Trot. The result was his second win at the stand, albeit in unusual fashion.

“Opening week here everything worked out nicely and he looped the field and won,” Mooney explained. “But then the next race we were stuck behind poor cover that only went about 10 feet and then the start after that we were forced to zig and zag and he came home in :27.2, but had too much to do.

“The plan last week was to be aggressive if they tried to go too slow up front, and that’s exactly the way it was setting up to the half. I moved him out, he hooked up with his stablemate (Inside Broadway) on the last turn and then was able to open up into the stretch and he held. He gave me a real nice burst when I popped his earplugs.”

Frank’s Best will suit up once again with Svendsen giving directions in Saturday night’s co-featured tenth race. Racing Secretary Fred Kuebler has assigned the hard-hitting side-wheeler the outside post in the field of eight, which familiar rivals as last week’s tough luck runner-up Axle and barn mate Inside Broadway, both of whom have posed for snapshots at the top run at this meeting.

A reminder that there are three wagers each night with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate. They are the .50-cent Pick-5 that begins on the third race, the .20-cent Pick-4 on the final four races and the .10-cent Hi-Five on the nightcap.