by Mark Ratzky, publicity department, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Final Choice, a 13-time victor last season and a winner of four of his last five trips to the post, looks like the one to beat in Thursday night’s (April 10) main event at Cal-Expo.

The $6,300 affair is designed for trotters sporting base claiming tags of $20,000 down to $15,000 with a field of six facing the starter. Set to tackle the likely favorite are Jess Or No, Cherry Tree Luke, Easter Call, Howwilddoyawantme and Photo Delight.

Final Choice is a 7-year-old son of Jonathan Lobell and the Sacramento mare Finale who is owned, trained and driven by Gilbert Herrera. He comes into this assignment with $206,000 in his bank account and a 1:56.1 lifetime standard.

Final Choice established his mark while taking a conditioned affair back on March 6, making every pole a winning one that evening for Herrera. Since that decision, he has added three more victories, with his only setback during that period coming two weeks ago when he opened a long lead, only to be fourth in a blanket finish.

The Herrera representative got his revenge in a big way last time, as he’d cruise home by five lengths as the 7-5 second choice in the wagering.

No matter how things shake out early on Thursday, he’s going to be a tough customer once again.

Jess Or No is another member of the cast who likes to have his picture taken and is an excellent fit under these conditions. Ed Hensley drives and trains the British Sterling offspring for his wife Jessica and he’ll be gunning for his fifth snapshot of 2008 as he makes his 16th trip to the post. He has a 1:56.1 mark that was set here last month.

Jess Or No will actually be trying to snap a three-race streak of runner-up finishes. He had a very good excuse last week, however, as he made a break turning for home while making his move, then was no match for the streaking Final Choice while holding for the exacta completion.

Perseverance pays off for trotter

The old saying “If you don’t succeed at first, try, try again” was never truer than with the 4-year-old trotter KD Dr Flash, who finally got his picture taken last week.

Despite the fact that the Robert O’Neill-owned, Kennedy Lindsey-trained performer was 0-for-30 going into the affair, the public hammered him down to 80 cents on the dollar and he did not disappoint them. It was tight, but he was on the right end of a head photo with Lemoyne Svendsen in the bike.

His pilot explained that there are some races where you realize that you have options with your charge, such as leaving or taking back and coming first over, but there were no such choices to be made with KD Dr Flash.

“You pretty much know going in with a horse like this that you’re going to need a good trip to get it done,” Svendsen related. “He wants to go from the gate, so the plan was to leave out of there and find a good early spot. It was a little tight getting through there, but it all worked out at the end. If it hadn’t opened, there would always be next week, and we’d be trying the same thing again.”

After racing with the Joker racebike in his March 20 outing that resulted in a break, trainer Lindsey switched to a wide trotting bike for this gelding and the results were a solid second two back, then last week’s trip to the charmed enclosure.

“He was hitting his hock on my stirrup with the Joker, so he needed something with more room,” Svendsen said.

This may be the only time KD Dr Flash gets his own story, but there’s something to be said for anybody who sticks with it and finally gets rewarded. That’s the tale this particular winner’s circle photo tells.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Thursday (April 10) at 5:50 p.m. (PDT), and will continue through Saturday (April 12). Post time on Friday (April 11) and Saturday (April 12) is at 5:55 p.m. On Thursday, Cal-Expo offers a complete lasagna dinner, which includes salad and bread, for just $3.00.

The Pick-6 at Cal-Expo is now a $1 wager!