by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness

Sacramento, CA — With After Alimony and R Journey Together among his stable representatives in Friday night’s second leg of the Bob Staats Pacing series at Cal Expo, there is no question Gene Vallandingham is holding a strong hand looking ahead to next week’s final.

The same can be said of the Vallandingham barn in general, which has benefited by an influx of new performers from the East, many of them racing under the A Piece of the Action LLC banner. At the moment, Gene has 36 horses here at Cal Expo and another half-dozen in action at Pocono Downs.

“You have to go back to Hollywood Park in the 70s for a time that I had this many horses,” Vallandingham noted. “You can say I’m just like Jack Benny, because I feel 39 again.”

For those who are sticklers about details, Gene officially turned 73 in September. He has made nearly 20,000 trips to the post in his career and has had his picture taken 2,965 times as of Friday evening’s program.

Getting back to the Staats, After Alimony and R Journey Together both reported home on top in their divisions of the opening leg with Gene in the sulky while being dispatched as the public choice. After Alimony went coast-to-coast in the faster mile of the pair, while R Journey Together spent some time in the pocket behind modest fractions before asserting her authority in the stretch.

“These are two real nice fillies and they had three or four weeks to get ready for the meet after they shipped in. Of the two, I would say After Alimony has probably benefited the most by moving from a five-eighths track to a mile.”

Vallandinghan noted there are a couple of very nice older pacers who could be headed this way to compete at the head of the class, while he is on the lookout for an Invitational trotter back East who could make the trip to Sacramento and help bolster the stable in that area.