by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo

Sacramento, CA — For the third straight start at Cal Expo, Albion will be leaving from the assigned No. 10 post position in Saturday night’s (June 9) main event with Luke Plano in his usual position in the sulky.

A winner of 11 of his 19 starts this season, the Matias Ruiz-trained pacer had no trouble with the demanding slot on May 18, as he ducked early and then brushed to the lead at the half en route to a two length score.

In last week’s assignment, however, he found himself third over on the cover train going into the final bend. While he put in a game finish for Plano, he came up a nose short as Haggin Oaks responded when the question was asked and posted the upset.

“The biggest disadvantage with having the 10 hole is if you try for the lead, and you have to make your decision right at the start, there’s no in-between,” Plano explained. “To be honest, with a horse like Albion it’s not as big a deal because I can do anything I want with him and it’s not like there’s nine horses inside of us.

“The race two back, they were mixing it up pretty good in the early part and I just let him sit until they slowed up. When I brushed him to the lead, he was strong and won nicely.”

Sent off at 60 cents on the dollar for last week’s tour, the race didn’t set up quite as well.

“This time we were third over and it wasn’t the greatest cover,” Plano related. “One And Only wasn’t quite keeping up in front of us, so I had to move around him a little earlier and it certainly made the difference.

“Take nothing away from Haggin Oaks, though, she deserves plenty of credit. I thought we had her measured the length of the stretch and she just dug in and wouldn’t let my horse get by.”

It will be interesting if history can repeat itself this time around with Haggin Oaks moving out to the five slot and Albion back in No Man’s Land.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (June 8) and Saturday (June 9) at 6 p.m. (PDT).