by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Even though Deal Me In was on the wrong end of the photo in last week’s try at Cal-Expo, owner/trainer Nathalie Tremblay was extremely pleased by the effort from the 3-year-old Power Of Art filly.

Double digits off the early action in the opening half, Deal Me In encountered some serious traffic issues into the final bend, but still managed to put in a nice late charge with James Kennedy and just missed to Brooklets Sundance in that affair.

“I’ve had her for about six months now,” Tremblay related when asked about the filly. “She was having some issues with the trailer going back and forth to the farm and I ended up trading for her.

“She’d missed a couple of starts coming into that last race because she’d been tying up. I don’t know if it was the change in weather or something else, but she’s fine now and it was a real good mile.”

As mentioned earlier, Deal Me In wasn’t done any favors past the half when a rival made a break in front of her and the Tremblay colorbearer got all the worst of it.

“James said she had to go around the breaker, and then another horse came out and she ended up going three wide around the entire last turn.

“She’s shown us that she can leave and sit, but I really think she does her best when she can race from behind like she did the other night.”

More Cal Sire Stakes action on tap

Last week saw the second round of big-money action for the 2-year-olds, while this weekend will see the first round of Fall Sire Stakes competition for the 3-year-old trotters and pacers. The fillies will do battle on Friday, while Saturday will spotlight the sophomore colts.

Saturday night will also find the second leg of the Desmond series for the working-class pacers. The opening stanza found Shoot The Works changing tactics to get the job done in the first division, while Nightscreamer turned in a powerful performance to account for the other end.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (Oct. 28) and continues through Saturday (Oct. 30). Approximate post time is 5:45 p.m. (PDT).