by Scott Ehrlich, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — He was looking for the wire in his last win and got it, which certainly wasn’t the case on Thursday night (May 15) as they could have gone around another ten times and nobody would have caught RD Khaki.

Claiming handicap pacers, in to be claimed from $15,000 to $20,000, were featured at Cal-Expo for a $6,300 purse, in which RD Khaki dominated.

Leaving for trainer Rocky Stidham from post five in the field of seven, Stidham would recognize early where he was to go when he saw that driver Jim Lackey had a death grip on the lead with Top Topper while on their way to a scorching first quarter, timed in :26.4.

“When I saw Lackey laying straight back with his horse, I knew I better get in the hole quickly, which I did after an eighth of a mile,” said Stidham. “Despite the :26.4 quarter, I didn’t use my horse much getting into the pocket. The first quarter was about what I thought we would go because the quarters had been fast all night. I thought that quarter would help me because, for one, I was in the two hole, plus Mac Jonathan VP (Lou Pena) was behind me and I didn’t think he was as good as he could have been last week, which as a result made me feel that I’d get an easy trip until around the five-eighths.”

Sitting tight in the pocket at the half-mile marker, timed in a hot :55.4, Stidham knew he had to be extra alert.

“The :55.4 half was a little quicker than I anticipated as I thought Lackey would back off Top Topper a little more. So, at that point, I knew I had to pay attention to Top Topper because once he was out of gas — it would be time to pull.”

Getting his earplugs popped going into the final turn and driving from the pocket just before the five-eighths-mile pole, RD Khaki would quickly take a short parked-out lead midway through the final turn before expanding that lead to one length, but while still on the rim at the three-quarter station, timed in 1:24.2.

“I thought I would clear a little quicker than I did and I was a little concerned because I was driving on him while parked around the last turn. There, however, wasn’t a lot of pressure over my shoulder, so I knew I just needed to clear and have him pace home what he could.”

Basically clearing very late in the final turn, RD Khaki would open up the lead with 3-16ths of a mile to go and would continue to gradually pull away from his opponents throughout the stretch drive.

“He was very good down the stretch and actually a little stronger than last week. He has had two similar perfect trips in-a-row and that’s always good for his ego.”

Owned by Ben Kenney in partnership with Stidham, RD Khaki would win ($4.60) by 4-1/2 lengths in 1:53, a lifetime best. Clambake (Lemoyne Svendsen) finished in second, and Mac Jonathan VP finished another length back in third.

“It’s three straight for him, it was a very good race, and I’m very happy with him,” Stidham concluded.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Friday (May 16) at 6:15 p.m. (PDT) and on Saturday (May 17) at 6:40 p.m. On Friday, Cal-Expo offers Happy Hour between 6:00-8:00 p.m., where $1 beer, $2 wine and $3 orders of buffalo wings are offered.

The Pick-Six at Cal-Expo is now a $1 wager.