by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — He was dropping in class, but drew poorly with his form in question, but Ivegotwhatuneed, a winner of nearly a quarter of a million dollars, showed his class by totally outracing his odds.

Claiming handicap pacers, racing for a purse of $3,400, were co-featured at Cal Expo on Friday night (Dec. 31), in which Ivegotwhatuneed won for the 25th time in his career.

Prior to starting from post position eight in the field of the same number, driver Lemoyne Svendsen was blunt about his thoughts.

“I left it up to Bob (Johnson) to tell me what he wanted me to do strategy wise — plain and simple,” stated Svendsen. “He felt that we had no chance if we ducked, so leaving was the move. As far as his chances, I had no clue what was going to happen because the competition he has been racing against has been so tough — combined with recent muddy tracks, had me truly not knowing how to gauge how good he truly could be.”

Leaving nicely and getting to the front after an eighth of a mile into a :29 opening quarter, Svendsen yielded for the pocket at the three-eighths-mile station into a :57.3 first half.

With the field now midway through the final turn, Svendsen moved his charge to the outside. Did he have good reason?

“Chomp N Stomp (Scott Cisco) was starting to fail a little bit on the front and I was running up on the helmet of Cisco — plus Steve Wiseman and Cat Call behind me kind of flushed me out of the hole. Once I pulled, my horse did what he usually does when he’s good and that’s to blow by them.”

Taking a parked-out lead at the three-quarter marker, timed in 1:26, Svendsen had a much different outlook than he did in advance of the race.

“At that point I was saying so long to the rest of them.”

Drawing clear at the head of the lane, there’d be no catching the gelding who was only under moderate to minor urging.

“He never slowed down and just kept going and was perfect like you want a horse to be.”

Owned by Marty Garey in partnership with trainer Bob Johnson, Ivegotwhatuneed scored ($46.40) by 1-3/4 lengths in a solid 1:54.3, the night’s fastest mile by 1-2/5 seconds. Cat Call finished in second, and Most Happy Lavros (Rick Plano) had his three-race win streak end, finishing 1-3/4 lengths farther back in third.

“It’s a race that showed you what this horse is capable of — and he will be better for a while,” finished Svendsen, who concluded a consecutive driving triple with this triumph.

Live racing continues at Cal Expo on Saturday (Jan. 1) at 6 p.m. (PST).