by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Sacramento Harness Association

With the running of the race seeming to be nothing more than a formality, it was assumed that Hitchiker would dominate his fellow state-breds as he always has, but throw in a sloppy track and a break and you had a whole different story.

Sophomore trotters and pacers, of the male gender, each racing for a purse of $22,500, were highlighted at Cal-Expo in California Sires Stake action on a rainy Saturday night (November 10) over a sloppy track, in which totally opposite trips saw the same results.

For the diagonally gaited specialists, an easy lead for the heavily favored Hitchiker and Etienne Desomer would see them coast by the opening quarter in :31.1. The coasting, however, came to an abrupt end at the 7-16ths mile marker when the gelding went into a full gallop.

“He was a little steppy, but I didn’t think he was going to make a break,” said Desomer. “Once he broke, I thought I was toast because I knew that I had to bring him to a complete walk because that was the only way I could get him back trotting again. Once I got him back on stride, I figured all I could get was third.”

Taken to a walk and roughly 20 lengths back at the half-mile pole, timed in 1:01.4 by Putoneonnetformom (Rick Plano) — who had inherited the lead, Hitchiker would now begin his attempt to get back into the race while racing first-over. Still, a quarter of a mile later at the three-quarter mile marker, timed in 1:33.4, Hitchiker still found himself 14 lengths back while appearing to have an uphill battle that seemed impossible to overcome — or was it?

“As soon as we turned for home, he kicked it into another gear and that told me that he was saying it was time to race. At that point, that’s when I thought I had a shot, especially when I saw Top Site (Steve Desomer), who was in second, break, plus I could see that Putoneonnetformom was tired and done. I just told myself to just keep driving to the wire. It was halfway down the stretch when I thought he was going to come back and win. When he crossed under the wire first, that’s when I let my breathe out,” concluded Desomer with a smile.

Getting to the lead in deep-stretch, Hitchhiker, who is owned and bred by the Desomer Stables, and trained by Vickie Desomer, would win ($2.80) by 2-3/4 lengths, in 2:07. The victory kept the gelding undefeated in the 10 two and three year-old Sires Stakes contested over the past two years. Additionally, the victory also pushed the seasonal earnings for Hitchiker over $100,000 to $106,225.

Putoneonnetformom had to settle for second, and Ailene’s Prince (Lemoyne Svendsen), who broke before the start, recovered to finish in third, another twelve lengths farther back.

On the pacing side, Ridgeline enjoyed a perfect trip to score. Owned by Gregg Pistochini and Michael Silber, the Gilbert Herrera trained and driven pacer would score ($6.20) from the pocket by 3-1/2 lengths, in 1:56.2.

“Once I popped him out of the pocket, he responded real well — I never even had to resort to pulling out the earplugs. It was a very good race, and if he can stay sound — he’ll have a big future,” Herrera noted.

For Herrera, the victory with Ridgeline completed a training and driving four-bagger. For owner Gregg Pistochini, the win was the start of an ownership double. Ironically, the Desomer Stables, who bred Hitchiker, also bred Ridgeline as well.