by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — He had to do more work than usual, but that didn’t stop the love affair that Jovial Joker N has with Sacramento and Cal-Expo, as he extended his win streak over the oval to nine.

The best pacers on the grounds raced for a purse of $12,500 in the Nihilator Free For All Pace on Saturday night (August 12), where Jovial Joker N continued his dominance.

Entering the featured event off of two straight victories since his return from Chicago, which was preceded by six straight wins before the trip east, driver Luke Plano, of course, had nothing but the utmost confidence in his chances.

“Obviously, I thought his chances were good, given his very good form,” said Plano. “I figured that Road Hazard (Rocky Stidham) and Pocket Driver N (Gilbert Herrera) would be pushing pretty hard, which meant I probably would be taking it easy early.”

As Plano thought, Road Hazard and Pocket Driver N hooked up early in a serious battle for possession of the front end, with Road Hazard winning the first quarter battle after putting Pocket Driver N into the pocket past the quarter-mile pole, timed in a hot :27.1. Normally, a :27.1 opening quarter-mile would work perfectly for those not involved in the front-end squabble. This, however, wasn’t the case for Jovial Joker N, as he encountered, to the quarter-mile pole, a badly gapping (at the time) Good Bad Or Best, which forced him to get around that pacer to the quarter-mile pole.

“I appreciated the battle between Road Hazard and Pocket Driver N, but with Good Bad Or Best gapping, I realized I had to get around him.”

Taking over the three hole past the 5-16-mile pole, Plano had been forced to ask for some earlier than usual energy from his charge.

“Considering the pace was going pretty fast, I did have to use him, plus chase after him a little bit to get around Good Bad Or Best. But having to make that move at the quarter-mile pole really didn’t concern me, but it was still too early to determine what was going to happen.”

While Jovial Joker N was able to get back to the inside after getting around the gapping Good Bad Or Best, the horse that followed him, Derek Bromac N (Lou Pena), wasn’t as lucky, as he was unable to find a seat back on the inside, which resulted in him being parked and fighting Road Hazard for the lead at the half-mile pole, timed in a speedy :55.1. The brisk first-half, though, wasn’t actually an aid to Jovial Joker N.

“The pace never really slowed down, which really didn’t help me because my horse was never comfortable, in that he had to keep chasing the fast clip of the race, which in turn never really gave him a breather.”

With Road Hazard and Derek Bromac N now slugging it out, this prompted the hand of Plano.

“Road Hazard and Derek Bromac N started to leave Pocket Driver N, who had been in the pocket. I felt at that point I better make my move.”

Moving to the outside at the five-eighths-mile pole, Plano was faced with three lengths between him and Derek Bromac N, which, into a fast pace, wouldn’t appear to be an easy task to make up ground into.

“I knew we were going pretty fast, but my horse was moving well.”

Pacing a :27 third-quarter to catch Derek Bromac N at the three-quarter pole, timed in a rapid 1:22.3, Plano once again had to ask his pacer to exert more energy than perhaps he had wanted.

“I used him pretty good in the third-quarter, but I still felt he had a bit of pace. I also felt that Love Shark (Rick Plano), who was behind me, also had pace, which had me slightly concerned. At that point I still thought my chances were good, but not quite as good as earlier in the race, given that I thought it could go either way between my horse and Love Shark.”

The good news for the young Plano was that he had yet to resort to popping the earplugs of his horse. The bad news was that Love Shark didn’t care.

“When I kicked out the earplugs to the top of the stretch, he responded and took right off and I moved him three-wide. But it seemed like Love Shark was getting closer and I was concerned. When Love Shark got to within a half of a length of us after we got the lead at the seven-eighths-mile pole, my horse picked right up and dug in right to the wire.”

Holding firm while under an all-out drive, Jovial Joker N won by three-quarters of a length. Owned by the Summersby Stable and trained by Jamie Sullivan, Jovial Joker N stopped the timer in 1:51.4.

“He raced just like he has been — very, very strong. He was very impressive. He is probably the best horse I’ve ever driven.”

Love Shark, for the third consecutive start against Jovial Joker N , finished in second, and an unlucky Derek Bromac N finished in third, three lengths farther back.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Wednesday, continuing through Saturday as the State Fair summer meet continues. Post time on Wednesday and Thursday is at 5:35 p.m. First post on Friday and Saturday is at 6:45 p.m.

Guaranteed Late Pick-4 pool every Friday and Saturday

Sacramento Harness Association at Cal-Expo continues to offer a $20,000 (guar.) Late Pick-4 pool every Friday and Saturday, on races seven through 10.