by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — Trotters spotlighted an exciting 14 race card at Cal-Expo on Saturday, October 1, with three-year-old boys racing in an $18,000 California Sires Stake.

When the dust settled, Trot For Rock and driver Steve Desomer had their six opponents smelling what the “Rock” was cooking, a victory.

Starting from post three, Desomer went into the race with a good feeling about his gelded charge. “He has been feeling better the last couple of weeks, a little sounder, acting like his old self,” said the veteran Desomer. “My pre-race strategy was to leave and cut the mile, but Blaz’n Joy (Rick Plano) left plenty. I was lucky enough to get a seat past the eighth. When horses from behind started to move to the three-eighths, I had to come first-over. I thought Rick would give me a tougher time getting the lead, but he let me go pretty good.”

Once making the lead past the half, Desomer put the pedal to the metal. “I saw that Tys Star (Lou Pena) was stuck first-over and it appeared that he didn’t have a lot of horse, so, past the five-eighths, I gassed my horse as much as he could go, figuring Webstar (Bruce Clarke) would come at us, which he did. In the stretch though, Webstar didn’t have all that much either and only trotted even with us the final eighth. My horse raced as good as I expected and didn’t disappoint me.”

Owned by the breeder, Monique Seibold, Trot For Rock trotted to a two and a quarter length score in a lifetime best of 1:58.3. Webstar was clearly second best. Tys Star finished six lengths back in third.

In the $8,500 Invitational Handicap Trot, Splendoriffic was splendid in victory.

After a tough trip in her last, trainer/driver John McKeon was intent on not using his mare earlier than he had to from the three hole in the field of six.

“I purchased her two years ago at Harrisburg,” said the well-spoken McKeon. “She has been getting progressively better and better since I bought her, especially this year. Tonight, I was hoping to out-leave No Complications (Gilbert Herrera), but that didn’t happen. I had a choice to take the three hole or go for the lead late in the first quarter. I elected for the seat given the pretty strong tailwinds on the backstretch. The wind played a factor in my decision, as I wanted to keep her relaxed. She has ‘one’ big burst of speed, and by getting the lucky tuck, I didn’t have to use her up, which I would have, had I kept going into that wind-aided second quarter.”

Saving ground until the final turn, McKeon tipped his mare to the outside with five-sixteenths to go. “She moved resolutely when I pulled. When I drew abreast with No Complications in the stretch, I tapped my mare and Gilbert tapped his mare. My mare went by No Complications, who then broke. My mare trotted resolutely to the wire. I’m quite pleased with how’s she’s progressing,” stated the proud McKeon.

Winning for the tenth time this year, the John McKeon, Jr. owned five-year-old stopped the timer in a lifetime best 1:56. A length and a half back in second was Kash L’Argent (Rick Plano). Bolivar (Tim Twaddle) finished fourth and was placed third as No Complications was disqualified from third to sixth for failure to lose sufficient ground while off-stride in the stretch.

Stidham reaches milestone

In Saturday night’s first race, driver Rocky Stidham recorded his 1,000 career victory with Kendal Ridge Brown.

Guaranteed Pick 4 pool continues on Wednesday

Sacramento Harness Association at Cal-Expo continues to offer a $20,000 guaranteed Pick 4 pool every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

States General Manager Chris Schick, “We’ll be offering a $20,000 guaranteed Pick 4 on Wednesday night’s late Pick 4 (races seven through ten). We’ll also offer the same guarantee every Friday and Saturday night, on races nine through 12.”

Cal-Expo offers live harness racing every Wednesday through Saturday at 5:35 p.m., with free admission on Wednesdays. This Wednesday, Eaton Road Kill looks to defend his dramatic Invitational Handicap win of last week, meeting up with a solid group of five opponents.