by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s certainly the story behind the streaking trotter Little Rooster, who has captured seven of his last nine starts at Cal Expo for Jason Maier with father Tim doing the driving honors.

The 6-year-old son of Little Steven was actually quite effective as a pacer in his first career, winning some 15 races for Jason on that gait with a 1:55 mark. So why did he switch him over to trotting?

“I was looking to buy a maiden trotter, and I just couldn’t find one,” Maier explained. “So finally I just decided I would make one, and I took Little Rooster and started jogging him every day with the trotting hopples. He took right to it, and after two months of adjusting the shoes, the weights and everything else, he was ready to qualify.”

Easier said than done, but Jason was able to put three generations of harness know-how to work and now had a trotter with a blank slate, allowing him to work his way right through the conditions.

“After he finished up the year winning those conditioned races, he would have to move up to a level where there were going to be some pretty tough horses,” Jason said. “So I decided to move him into these claimers. My mom (Denise) and dad have done a great job with him and this horse wants to give you everything he has.”

Little Rooster rattled off five straight scores between Dec. 9 and Jan. 13 before settling for second behind Mr Friendly two back. That night, the Maier color-bearer ran into some traffic troubles, while Mr Friendly went one of the more amazing miles in recent memory as he won despite breaking before the start and spotting the field some 15 lengths as the gate rolled.

Little Rooster got his revenge in the fog last week, however, as Tim came first over with the side-wheeler and emerged from the blanket over the track to prevail by a neck and make it three-for-four on the new year.

“He got blocked until it was too late one start back, and I talked to my dad before the race and reminded him how good this horse had been coming first over. One thing about him, he’s the type of horse who you have to ask, not tell. By that I mean you don’t slash, you coax, and he’ll give the response.”

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (Feb. 3) and continues through Saturday (Feb. 5). Post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PST). Post time on Friday and Saturday is at 6 p.m.