by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Having already guided Thoroughbreds, Arabians, Quarter Horses and Mules into the winner’s circle, Karen Isbell has now set her sights on getting pictures taken with trotters and pacers.

A jockey on and off for some 25 years, Isbell received her Q (qualifying) license earlier this month and hopes to eventually become a driver at Cal-Expo. The 52-year-old native of Louisiana admits she would love to get her name into the record books with this unusual feat.

Isbell always had a love of horses, but riding Thoroughbreds came into her life pretty much by accident when she was 17 years old.

“I was taking my dog for a walk near Cal-Expo one morning and he literally dragged me to the racetrack,” she recalled. “When I saw the horses galloping, I knew right there and then I wanted to be a jockey. A man named Art Goldsmith heard me, and invited me to come back the next morning.”

Isbell won her first race in 1979, a mile and one-half affair over this track, and spent the next decade and a half adding photos to her album. A good deal of those victories came aboard Arabians for trainer Terri Eaton, including some stakes scores.

It was just recently that Isbell and husband Allen Aldrich became harness horse owners, partnering with driver/trainer Jason Maier on Bob Lee, who scored in the first start off the claim for the team.

“I met Jason when I was looking to board my horse, and he is just so much fun to be around and really encouraged me to give the driving a try,” Isbell said. “I’ve been getting behind four or five horses every morning and now I have my Q license. We’ll have to see where it leads.”

Sam’s doing quite well, thank you

Leave It To Sam is fresh from a flying finish that resulted in a head victory in the slop last weekend, and owner Tim Bell hints we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg with this 5-year-old pacer.

“I bought him in a sale in Ohio two years ago,” related Bell when asked about the dark-hued performer, who is conditioned by his brother Robert. “He had just one start at 2 and he pulled a suspensory. He was a good-looking horse, and that attracted me more than the pedigree.”

Leave It To Sam did some solid work in Illinois last season, prevailing in six of his 30 starts, including a 1:51 victory over the Balmoral Park oval.

“He raced against some real tough ones at Balmoral, and that night he went 1:51 was a super mile for him.”

In last week’s tally, his second from his last seven trips to the post here, Leave It To Sam sat next-to-last early. He exploded off cover for Luke Plano and was up to hang a head decision on Wilson Jay that evening while seemingly having no problem with the sloppy conditions.

“Luke gave him a great drive, and the fast half-mile certainly help set things up perfectly for them. I have to say I was a little surprised, because his prior race over a sloppy track he’d only gone a 1:58 and change mile, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

“This is a horse who hasn’t come close to showing his best yet. I think you’ll really see what he can do when the summer rolls around and it starts to heat up. It doesn’t matter at what point of the race you ask him, because his mark at Balmoral came wire-to-wire, and his last two wins here have been from well back.”

Bell was asked what the pacer is like around the barn.

“He’s got a very laid-back personality,” his owner explained. “When it comes time to race, though, he’s all business. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year with him.”

Ride with Vallandingham and Fowler

Cal-Expo is offering fans a rare opportunity for the next two weeks, as a donation to the V Foundation, named for the late North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano, will get you a ride in the starting car during a race.

Starter Bill Vallandingham, who has held the position for 16 years between this track and Los Alamitos and hasn’t missed a single day of work during the period, teams with wheelman Kenny Fowler to get the fields off in uniform fashion each evening.

To raise money for the V Foundation, fans can come down to the paddock for the next two weeks, and on a first come, first serve basis, a donation will allow two patrons per race this unique tour of the oval.

“I sit in the back of the car facing the field, so one of the people would be sitting to my right,” Vallandingham related. “The other person sits in what would be the passenger seat in any other car next to Ken, who does the driving. Almost everyone who rides with us during a race comes away saying how much they loved it, kind of like the E ride at Disneyland,” Vallandingham said. “I would compare it to being behind the pitcher during a baseball game, because you get a very interesting perspective on the racing.”

Vallandingham went on to explain the duties of the starter in harness racing.

“I’m facing the field, with one stick that controls the speed of the car and another that opens the wings and actually starts the race. When we get to the start and let them go, the car is going about 30 miles an hour. If we’re talking 2-year-old trotters, it might be a touch slower, and if it’s the Invitational Pace, it could be a bit faster, but that’s generally the speed when the gate opens.”

If you’re on track, come down and take advantage of what promises to be both an exciting and educational spin around the Cal- Expo layout, while donating to a very worthy cause in the V Foundation.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (March 18) and continues through Saturday (March 20). Post time on Thursday is at 5:45 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday (March 19) is at 5:35 p.m. Post time on Saturday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.