by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Mark Benvenga has been a harness fan for as far back as he can remember and an owner since 2000, when he dipped into that end of the game at Indiana Downs.

The 51-year-old, who has been calling Gold River home for the last couple of years, has now added winning Cal Expo owner to the resume after Stanza won his first start under the Benvenga banner with new driver/trainer Steve Wiseman.

“I grew up in New York and my dad used to take me to Yonkers and Roosevelt when I was a kid,” Benvenga related. “I was a teenager when the Meadowlands opened up in 1976 and I got the chance to see some amazing horses like Niatross.”

Our subject lived in Indiana for 18 years, and it was at the beginning of the new millennium that he bought his first performer with Mark Reisert.

“The first horse we had was Anxious Charlie and he’s my favorite so far. He won his second start for us and went on to win 14 of his next 35. In all, I guess I had about 25 horses between 2000 and 2008 and they were mostly claimers.”

When Benvenga moved to Sacramento, he was a regular at the track, but his daughter was attending a private school and the finances didn’t allow for the luxury of owning racehorses.

“This past July, the timing was right to slowly get back into it and my friend Robin Clements said that Paul Welence might be willing to sell Stanza. It didn’t come together at the time, but eventually I got with Steve Wiseman and ended up buying the horse, and he won his first start for us.”

Sire Stakes set for 3-year-old colts on Saturday

Hi Ho Steverino and Big Baller attempt encores in Sire Stakes action on Saturday (Nov. 13) at Cal Expo.

Hi Ho Steverino is a homebred son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s who carries the banner of Rod Knitttel with Rick Plano the conditioner and Luke Plano at the controls. He has accounted for three of his 10 starts on the year, including a coast-to-coast score in the first fall stakes dance two weeks ago.

Sent off at 6-1 in that affair, Luke zipped his charge right to the lead from the outside slot, carved out the fractions without challenge and came home with a length and three-quarters to spare while establishing a new mark with the 1:54.4 final clocking. Taking him on are Power Broker, Lily’s Hi Ho, Dancing Barry, Amigo De Garcia and Lucky Peterson.

Big Baller is shooing for a hat trick and another stakes trophy in the trotting event. The Desomer Stables homebred is trained by Vickie Desomer and Steve Desomer will once again do the honors. He was a game, first-over winner of the most recent stakes clash on Oct. 30, then changed tactics last week in a conditioned race and made every pole a winner in that mile.

Franks Best is attempting to regain the top spot in the division after being the leader through the first year of big-money action. Bob Johnson owns, trains and bred the son of Armbro Scribe with Lemoyne Svendsen in the bike. Franks Best has a number of stakes trophies on the mantle with $65,000 in the bank. He was third behind Big Baller in that clash two weeks ago and lost his chance with a miscue in an overnighter last time.

The field also includes Proxy, Bobby Baccala and Online Charger.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (Nov. 11) and continues through Saturday (Nov. 13). Post time on Thursday and Friday (Nov. 12) is at 5:40 p.m. (PST). Approximate post time on Saturday is 5:45 p.m.