by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — What a New Year’s resolution: Go east, win race, repeat. That seems to be the plan for California-bred pacer Pacinello, who shipped to Meadowlands Racetrack from Cal-Expo in Sacramento and won a preliminary leg of the Complex Series on Jan. 15 and then the $90,000 final on Jan. 23.

Pacinello, a 4-year-old son of Little Steven, was born, raised and raced most of his life in California for breeder-owner Eugene Afentoulis. A retired electronics importer from Las Vegas, Afentoulis has owned horses for 40 years and he raced Pacinello’s mother, Princess Kiara.

“I bought the mother as a yearling, trained her and raced her,” Afentoulis said. “She came second and then she got hurt and I retired her. The advice to me was that she’d be a good broodmare, so I followed the advice.”

Pacinello had an unremarkable 2-year-old season, with two victories in low level overnight races.

“Mr. Rick Plano, the trainer, told me this was a very good horse when he started training,” Afentoulis said. “I guess he was young; we only raced him a half-dozen times as a 2-year-old and he saw a lot of potential at the time.”

Lisa photo

Pacinello (#5) nipped Real Image by a nose in 1:52 in the Complex Series final.

Things perked up for Pacinello as a 3-year-old as he won several overnight events in New York and Indiana before returning to California for the sire stakes, where he won three preliminary races and the final for $25,000 in mid-December. Pacinello finished last season with 13 wins in 26 starts and earned $107,670.

This year, Pacinello again headed east, this time for the Complex Series and the stable of Jim Doherty.

“There was nothing in California for him so we decided to take a chance on the East Coast,” Afentoulis said. “Mr. Doherty’s been my friend a long time; we own horses together, breed horses together, race horses together.”

In the Complex Series final, Pacinello made a late charge from mid-pack on the outside to nip Real Image by a nose in 1:52. The horse is 2-for-2 this season, good for $55,000.

“He’s a real nice horse,” Doherty said. “He was real good here both starts (in the Complex). Things didn’t go his way in the final and he still won, so that shows he’s a good horse. His manners are good and he has a lot of ability.

“I’m lucky they sent him to me. His record speaks for itself.”

Next for Pacinello most likely will be the Exit 16W Series at the Meadowlands, although the Aquarius is also an option. The Exit 16W Series begins Feb. 5 and concludes on Feb. 20. The Aquarius begins Feb. 6.

The goal remains simple.

“Win everything he can win,” Afentoulis said.