by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — The second round of Sire Stakes action for the 3-year-old pacers and trotters will get underway this weekend at Cal-Expo, with the fillies doing battle in a pair of $15,000 events on Friday (April 10) and the colts clashing in two $15,000 contests on the Saturday (April 11) program.

Three of last year’s four divisional champions will be returning to the wars in these events, with Silver Bloom set for the filly pace; Firewall defending her crown in the filly trot; and Credit Score headlining the colt trot. Last season’s top pacing male Glad To Be Back remains at the Meadowlands, thus making that division wide open.

Silver Bloom races for her breeder Wayne Knittel and takes her lessons from Edgar “Sparky” Clarke. She captured three of the four stakes events for her division last season, including the November 29 championship with Rick Plano at the helm.

Bruce Clarke conditions both the filly trotting champ Firewall and the colt champ Credit Score for their breeder Jack Coffey. Both of these Website offspring have a pair of stakes trophies on their mantle.

With Glad To Be Back staying on the East Coast, the top spot among the sophomore pacing colts is certainly up for grabs, with Rude Awakening, the team of Artless and Holme Invasion, and Pacinello among those who are likely to get their share of tote attention in the Saturday co-feature.

Rude Awakening picks up the mantle

Jim Wilkinson, Jr. reports that while divisional leader Glad To Be Back won’t be returning from the East Coast to defend his title in this weekend’s renewal of Sire Stakes action, he feels he has more than an able replacement in Rude Awakening.

Glad To Be Back was sensational here last season, capturing three of the four stakes events including a coast-to-coast victory in the championship back in late November. He immediately headed to New Jersey following that outing and has been doing solid work back East, including a 1:51.4 victory at the Meadowlands.

“The plan was to send him back there for the Matt’s Scooter Series,” Wilkinson related. “If he was doing well enough he would stay, and if not, we had it in the back of our minds that we could always bring him back for this round of stakes races.

“He’s staked to a number of races back there, including a series that’s coming up at the Meadowlands. The last one is in the fall, so there’s always the chance we might bring him back for the next round of stakes races at the end of the year.”

Meanwhile, Rude Awakening is a son of Power Of Art and the New Zealand mare Dreamline Jeb, who picked up minor prizes behind Glad To Be Back in the big-money events last season and has accounted for two of his three appearances as a sophomore. He was a game first-over conditioned winner last weekend while giving Rich Wojcio his 3,500th career victory.

“He’s a brother to Nightmareonelm and talent-wise I think he’s as solid as any of these,” his mentor said. “He’s had some soundness issues, but he’s doing well now and I think he should be right there.”

They’re back to defend their crowns

Bruce Clarke is eyeing a couple of rich prizes this weekend with Firewall set for action in Friday’s Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old trotting fillies, while Credit Score looms large in Saturday evening’s big-money gathering of the trotting colts.

Both performers were bred and are owned by Jack Coffey and were named divisional leaders after last year’s heroics. They finished up their respective campaigns in strong style, capturing the rich championship events in late November, and they will both be making their seasonal debuts this weekend.

“The plan all along was to give them some time, get a couple of qualifiers into them and then go right into the next round of stakes races, and they’re both training well,” Clarke explained.

The pair finished one-two in a solid qualifying mile last week to complete their serious preparations.

Credit Score finished up his initial campaign impressively, gamely holding safe in the November 15 stakes gathering and then doing the track-and-attack to perfection for Clarke in the championship two weeks later.

“He’s a big, growthy colt and there’s no question the time has done him a lot of good,” his mentor explained.

Firewall, who like her stablemate is by Website, also captured two of the four added-money contests decided for her division last season. After making a miscue as the favorite in the penultimate gathering, she was on her best behavior for the late November championship with Rich Wojcio in the sulky.

No doubt helped when archrival Sheila’s Dream made an early break that evening, Firewall brushed to the front early on the backside, withstood a strong challenge on the final bend and then left them in the dust once straightened for home to post a 3-1/4 length score.

“I like the way she finished up last season, even though she was probably getting a little tired at the end,” Clarke related. “I’m happy with the way she’s training.”

Pacinello sets sights on a trophy

Rick Plano relates we will see a more mature, improved version of Pacinello when the son of Little Steven suits up for Saturday’s Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old pacing colts. He, however, must do his work from the outside slot in the field of nine.

The D & E Racing color-bearer recorded a pair of smart victories last season, but picked the wrong time to show his green side as he made breaks in three of his four stakes appearances and had to settle for minor prizes behind Glad To Be Back in the big-money gatherings.

With that pacer staying on the East Coast for the time being, Plano feels Pacinello is ready to step up and take down a stakes trophy or two of his own over the next couple of months. After making a miscue in his seasonal bow two weeks ago, he returned last time to post an eight length romp in a qualifier.

“This is a very talented horse, but his problem last year was that his mind wasn’t 100 percent on his business,” Rick explained. “He showed what he could do a couple of times, but he also made breaks in the stakes races and we had to try to figure out why he was doing it.

“The time off has done him a world of good, and he’s coming back much more mature. Even though he made a break in that race two weeks ago, I felt it was more the result of shying from another driver’s whip and not his fault.”

Plano was extremely pleased with Pacinello’s 1:58.4 tour that followed in a qualifier and feels his colt is as solid as anybody in the cast.

“Last year I’d say he was about a six on the focus scale, and now it’s more like an 8-1/2 or a 9. He’s ready.”

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (April 9) and continues through Saturday (April 11). Post time on Thursday is at 6:05 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday is at 5:50 p.m. Post time on Saturday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

With no winning tickets sold in Saturday night’s Super High 5, there will be a $6,269 carryover going into Thursday’s Super High 5. The wager is conducted on the eighth event on the program and the estimated total pool is $17,500.