from harness publicists around North America

Thursday’s Racing Roundup features stories from Dover Downs, Yonkers Raceway, Cal-Expo Raceway and Monticello Raceway.

McAroni N Cheese, Who’s Next will Thursday features at Dover

Dover, DE—Corey Callahan, who leads all 2010 dash-win drivers in North America, guided McAroni N Cheese to victory in the feature Thursday, Jan. 21 at Dover Downs.

Fotowon

McAroni N Cheese posted his first win of the New Year in 1:53.3.

Darrell and Kimberly Dashiell’s McAroni N Cheese posted his first win of the New Year as Corey Callahan steered the McArdle-Blahjos gelding to a 1:53.3 triumph in a $14,000 4&5-year-old pace. Break My Art (Tony Morgan) was runner-up. Thunderfist (Brad Hanners) picked up third money.

Who’s Next made his last start for owner-trainer Ron Davis a winning one as Roger Plante drove the Blissfull Hall-Hair Se Goes gelding to a 1:53.4 victory. After the race, Who’s Next changed hands due to being claimed out of the Delaware $20,000 Claiming pace. Bachelorboy (Corey Callahan) was second in front of CJ Striker (Jon Roberts).

— Marv Bachrad

Holland stars at Yonkers

Yonkers, NY — Brent Holland had his name above the title Thursday night, winning with four of his five Yonkers Raceway drives on the dozen-race card.

After finishing fourth with a longshot in the opener, Holland rolled from second-over with the favored Pilgrim’s Haley ($4.50) in the $6,000 third race pace.

His next drive came four races later, a first-up winner with Bluebird Dream ($11.40) in the $8,000, seventh race pace. The mare prevailed despite broken equipment.

Holland scratched out of his scheduled drive in the ninth race before sweeping the $239.00 Late Double. He closed in the passing lane with Technicalybroadway ($10.00) in the $13,000 11th race trot, then deeper in the passing lane with Able Yankee ($54.50) in the $13,000 final race pace.

Both halves of the Late Double were trained by Paul Blumenfeld.

— Frank Drucker

A surging Sintillating scores at Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA —She packs a wallop late in every start, and that great deep-stretch kick saw Sintillating zoom by her foes.

Filly and mare Open Handicap pacers, racing for a purse of $6,100 over a sloppy track in the rain, were featured at Cal-Expo on Thursday night, on which Sintillating notched her 26th career win.

Before starting from post five in the field of seven, did trainer Tim Maier let the rainy weather worry him?

“I wasn’t concerned about the rain or the sloppy track because that family that she’s from usually likes the off track,” Maier noted. “My plans were to put her on the gate to pop her out of there and look for a seat.”

Urged off the gate to leave for the three hole, which she obtained just as the field entered the first turn, Maier and his pupil found themselves in third position through first-half fractions of :28.3 and :58.4.

With the field now three-eighths of a mile from home, was Maier worried when the pacesetting Biggest Big Bertha (Rick Plano) opened up when asked?

“Even though Rick was trying to get daylight with his horse I wasn’t concerned and just figured I’d follow Reno Rose (Jim Lackey) until well into the stretch.”

With the lead of Biggest Big Bertha back down to 1-1/2 lengths at the three-quarters, timed in 1:27.3, Sintillating found herself down a diminishing 3-1/4 lengths back with a quarter of a mile to go — then was second-over into the stretch to follow the pocket-pulling Reno Rose until moving three-wide with less than 3/16 of a mile to go.

“I started chasing her to get her in motion, but I knew that she doesn’t usually start getting going until the last sixteenth.”

Now with a sixteenth of a mile to go, Maier got the response he knew he’d get.

“She kicked in like she always does and won handily.”

Bred and owned by Alan Kirschenbaum and Denise Maier, the 6-year-old charged into the lead at the wire to win ($9.00) by one length, in 1:56. Biggest Big Bertha tried hard while completing the Little Steven Exacta, and while also pushing her career earnings to just over $300,000. Reno Rose finished just a neck father back, in third.

“It was a very good effort,” concluded Maier.

— Scott Ehrlich

Parker wins four at Monticello

Monticello, NY — Not to be outdone this season by the younger drivers, last year’s driving champ Billy “Zeke” Parker, Jr. had a four-bagger of his own on Thursday at Monticello Raceway.

Parker, 57, who is no stranger to the winner’s circle or to the driving title at the Mighty M (he’s won 14 titles here thus far), showed to those who seek to wrestle his crown from him this year that he is going to be no pushover.

Parker rallied Super Cat Begonia from a second-over trip to zoom by the pacesetter in the lane and score a 2:02.3 trotting victory for owner Jennifer Lappe in the third race.

He won in similar fashion in the fifth race when he guided Julie Julie to a 2:01 victory for owner Sea Horse Farms and then Parker proceeded to rein Peter Stratton’s Thunder Bay to a gate-to-wire, 1:58.3 victory in the seventh race.

Parker finished the afternoon program with another wire-to-wire triumph when he drove Jennifer Lappe’s lightly raced 4-year-old trotter Shady Chip home first in a 2:01.4 clocking.

Now with 14 wins this season, Parker currently trails leader Billy Dobson by eight victories.

— John Manzi