from Harness Publicists across North America

Sunday’s (Dec. 27) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Dover Downs and Cal-Expo.

10-1 shot Wainui Tabman N wins on Sunday at Dover

Dover, DE — Wainui Tabman N, overlooked at 10-1, scored a 1:53 victory in the featured event on Sunday at Dover Downs. Meet leading driver Ron Pierce had four wins, while Corey Callahan had three.

Fotowon photo

Wainui Tabman N was a 1:53 winner in the Sunday feature at Dover.

Tim Curtin made good use of starting from post one, piloting Wainui Tabman N to an upset victory in the $15,000 male pace. The Presidential Ball-Gwyneth gelding was strongest in the stretch for owners Jim Novinger, Wayne Hurtibise and Neil Chesen, notching his third win of the year. Piker Shark (Ron Pierce) was second best. Roll Call (Ross Wolfenden) finished third.

Stand By Cam gave Corey Callahan his third winner of the night in a $14,000 pace. Owned and trained by Eli Scott, the sophomore Cammibest-Real Elegance gelding made his local debut a winning one. It was his fifth win and 18th in the money effort in 21 starts in this his first year of racing. Valid Expectation (Vic Kirby) was runner-up with Allamerican Shaker (Ross Wolfenden) was the third-place finisher.

Weekday racing starts at 4:30 p.m. Dover Downs will not race this Thursday, Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve day. Friday is also a dark day for live racing. Saturday and Sunday post time is 5:30 p.m.

— Marv Bachrad

Grandpa Stevie drops and scores at Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — The bad news is that he drew very poorly in a bulky field. The good news is he was dropping in class, and Grandpa Stevie took full advantage of it.

Claiming pacers were featured on Sunday in the 2009 Cal-Expo finale, in which Grandpa Stevie was fastest of all.

In advance of starting from post position eight in a field of ten, driver Steve Wiseman knew what was needed for victory.

“I was going to have to have a lot of early flow to be in contention because of the post,” stated Wiseman. “And with the right flow I thought he had a good chance — especially because of the class drop he was taking.”

Coming away tenth and last into a :28.2 opening quarter, Wiseman moved his charge to fourth-over position at the three-eighths pole, but the pair found themselves no closer than ninth at the half-mile pole, timed in :58.4.

“The flow at the half could have been a little better, but I was content right there because I knew they’d pick up the tempo a little bit in the third quarter.”

Following three-wide cover past the midway point of the final turn and starting to gain to the three-quarter pole, timed in 1:29, Wiseman was okay with his chances despite being six lengths off the lead while eighth.

“I thought I had a good shot at the three-quarters because my horse had a lot of pace. I, however, wanted to follow Jessalilpeace (Rich Wojcio) as long as I could because the track was tiring and I wanted to carry my horse as far as I could.”

Following cover as planned, Wiseman tipped his charge five-wide to the seven-eighths marker and the 7-year-old was instantly in full gear.

“When I flipped him he had a lot of pace and just paced right on. That’s him; I’ve seen him do that and pace home like that one hundred times. I knew I had a good shot then.”

Now under a drive and taking a slim lead with a sixteenth of a mile to go, Grandpa Stevie had to deal with Western Collection (James Kennedy) from the inside and KG Mattmajor (John Chappell) to his outside, but the gelding met the challenge and wouldn’t be caught in a three-quarter length triumph with pace to spare. Owned by Hei and Pam Mitchell in partnership with Family Time Racing, the Marco Rios trained pacer won ($21.80) in 1:58.3, thus recording his 24th career win. KG Mattmajor finished in second, and Western Collection finished one length farther back in third.

“The class drop definitely helped him and he was able to overcome the outside. It was a very good race for him,” finished Wiseman.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Friday (January 1) and continues through Sunday (January 3). Post time are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (PST).

— Scott Ehrlich