by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness

Sacramento, CA — The 3-year-old trotting filly Katie Mouse appears to have acclimated nicely to her new home, scoring back-to-back wins for the team of owner Stephen Grollneck, trainer Kennedy Lindsey and pilot Luke Plano.

The Illinois-bred daughter of Armbro Tropicana captured three of her 19 starts before joining the Lindsey barn and moving her act to the West Coast, and has now posed for pictures the last two weeks while establishing a new mark in the process.

“I bought her from someone I know in Illinois who was looking to sell,” Lindsey related when asked about the bay miss. “It looked like she would fit out here and would benefit by racing on a mile track.”

After a needed effort with her trainer in the bike, Katie Mouse was paired with Plano for the first time on Nov. 15 and came with a nice late charge to get the job done by a half-length as a 7-1 shot.

Sent off an even-money co-choice last week, they took advantage of the rail post and made every pole a winning one while prevailing by three-quarters of a length over the pocket sitter.

“Luke said she was real good in that first win,” Kennedy said. “We were going to play it by ear as far as the tactics go last time, and she just went right to the front. I was pretty confident the entire way, although I know she’s the type of horse who waits a bit on them.”

Can Katie Mouse keep the momentum going and complete a hat trick? Stay tuned.

Racing resumes Saturday

Quality Sport, who has used a strong closing kick to win two of his last three starts and BB’s Harley, his most immediate victim last time, get another chance to settle the score in Saturday night’s featured $5,000 Open I Pace.

A 12-race program is on tap with the headliner going as the third event on the evening and a first post of 6:10 p.m., while racing continues Sunday with things getting underway at 5:10 p.m.

A reminder there are two wagers on the program that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout race. They are the 50-cent Pick-5, which this season features a 25 percent minor pool payout and the 20-cent Pick-4, which comes with a $25,000 guaranteed gross pool.