by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — She didn’t have to take a deep breath in the first half, and from there, Reno Rose would never look back.

Conditioned ladies, racing for a $4,400 purse, were featured at Cal-Expo on Wednesday night (October 10), in which Reno Rose was way too tough.

Leaving well from post position three in the field of six, Reno Rose and driver Luke Plano would only need a sixteenth of a mile-plus to obtain the lead on their way to a :29.2 first quarter. With the pace being slow, however, this would prompt a quarter-move from Oh My Sydney (Rick Plano).

“I got a pretty easy lead,” said Luke Plano. “But when Oh My Sydney made her move, I was content to sit in the two hole. But, when Oh My Sydney made a mistake and broke, I just took it from there to just rate my own mile.”

Rate he did, as the young Plano and his 3-year-old jogged the second quarter in :30.3 on their way to a soft first half, timed in 1:00.

“At the half, I thought it was my race to lose because I thought I had the best horse if I got the right trip and the half-mile time was what I was looking for.”

Under urging to the middle of the final turn, Plano had good reason to ask.

“She felt strong off the cheap first half, so I decided to let her pace a little bit and she responded nicely.”

Reno Rose would reach the three-quarter-mile station, timed in 1:28.3, while now on an expanding 2-1/4 length lead for a confident Plano.

“She still felt strong and I wasn’t worried about too much.”

Continuing to open up her lead while now in the lane, Reno Rose was home free.

“She was good all the way to the wire while I just urged her mildly to keep her attention because she was up by quite a bit.”

Owned by Bob and Loretta Staats, Reno Rose would score by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:56. Holme Town Girl (Etienne Desomer) closed fast to be a late-on-the-scene second, and Astroglider (Tim Maier) finished another 4-1/4 lengths farther back in third.

“Trainer Bob Johnson deserves a lot of credit for the great job he has done in bringing her back so well off of a layoff,” Plano finished.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (October 11), continuing through Saturday. Post time each night is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. (PDT). On Thursday, Cal-Expo offers Fiesta Thursdays, in which fans can enjoy $2.00 frozen margaritas and tacos.

Cal-Expo offers guaranteed $10,000 pools on all Pick-4’s!