by Scott Ehrlich, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — It appeared he could have had a mini mountain to climb with a quarter of a mile to go, but with the way Shock And Awe closed, it looked like not even Mount Everest could have stopped him.

Claiming handicap pacers, racing for a $5,000 purse, were featured at Cal-Expo on Friday night (May 23), in which Shock And Awe picked them up and laid them down.

In advance of starting from post five in the field of six, part owner Dave Siegel clearly had confidence.

“I thought I had an excellent chance, especially with the fact that it was a small field,” said the recently well-traveled Siegel. “I had post position five, I like racing him from the back, plus I thought this was a perfect spot.”

Coming away in fifth position into a snappy :27.4 first quarter, Siegel was pleased.

“I looked at the timer and I thought the quarter was about two-fifths of a second faster than I thought it would be — which made me happy.”

Still fifth with the field now at the half-mile pole, timed in :56.3, Siegel was okay with how things were going.

“I thought we were about a second too fast there as well. I saw that Catmando (James Kennedy) was about two lengths behind me — so I knew I wouldn’t get trapped in. And with the field pretty compacted, I was going to be patient and hope that Gilbert (Herrera) would move from in front of me with Schemes.”

Out slightly while second-over with 7-16ths of a mile to go, the flow for Shock And Awe would finally move midway through the final turn, yet he’d still find himself in fifth position and five lengths back at the three-quarter station, timed in 1:25.2. Was Siegel concerned?

“Absolutely not because he hadn’t been used at all, plus I had good cover for long enough.”

Moving three-wide very late in the final turn, and four-wide with 3-16ths of a mile to go, Shock And Awe was ready to get his mojo working.

“He tends to bear in a little bit in the stretch, so I moved him out a sulky’s width and when he had daylight, I basically knew I had the race won.”

Brushing quickly into the lead with an eighth of a mile to go, there would be no catching the 5-year-old gelding.

“He had plenty of gas and brushed right by them and I didn’t have to chase after him too much. I saw Beach Crisis (Ed Hensley) coming late on the inside, so I brushed the tail of my horse and he responded like a pro.”

Owned by Rebecca Floyd in partnership with Siegel, and trained by Bernie Wolin, Shock And Awe would win ($5.40) by one length in 1:54.1. Beach Crisis finished in second, and Catmando finished another 1-1/4 lengths farther back in third.

“It set up like I expected and he’s a professional racehorse,” Siegel finished.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Saturday night (May 24) at 6:20 p.m. (PDT) with four $25,000 Spring Championship Sires Stakes Finals highlighting the card. Also on Saturday at Cal-Expo, it’s Dollar Night, on which hot dogs, beer, soda, and wine will be sold for one dollar each.

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