by Scott Ehrlich, Publicity Director, Sacramento Harness Association

He had won his last two races by a total of two noses, so figuring he didn’t want his followers to have to bite down their nails anymore than they already had, Wilder Echo widened his winning margin on Saturday, to a neck.

Northern California’s warmest day of the year made for a beautiful evening at Cal-Expo, where five Invitational Handicap pacers met up in the $9,200 Marc Grenier Memorial Pace, in which Wilder Echo got the hat-trick.

In advance of starting from post-position five, driver Brad Irvine was clearly optimistic.

“I thought his chances were great,” said Irvine. “My strategy was just to put him on the front, and like last week, to conduct the pace.”

With the field just under an eighth of a mile from the start, Irvine was already taking the necessary measures to insure his game-plan would work.

“I was urging him before the start because I wanted to make sure I got around Lucky NZ (Tim Maier), who had post-position four. Additionally, I wanted to go a substantial enough first-quarter to secure the front and let everybody know I wanted the lead.”

Firing out well for the lead while three-wide until clearing to the point an eighth of a mile past the start, Irvine, indeed, made sure he got the lead, given how fast he thought the first eighth of a mile went.

“We went probably about 13 to 13 and change, which was the necessary evil to get the front. Once I got the lead, I wanted him to relax and conduct the tempo where I could give him a rest.”

With Irvine hitting the brakes once he was on the lead, Wilder Echo would still pace a :27.1 opening quarter-mile, but Irvine wasn’t concerned, as long as his second-quarter mile plan worked.

“I didn’t think it took anything out of him, but it was important to get a breather after that.”

Getting his wish granted in the second-quarter with a very easy :30 split, Irvine was happy, while having another wish.

“The breather is what I wanted, but I was hoping somebody would come up first-over to the half-mile pole, as I was going to use that horse to keep Lucky NZ, who was in the pocket, trapped. Since no one came, I thought at that point that I better get another breather if I was going to out-kick Lucky NZ in the stretch. I thought my chances were very good at the half because he has been putting up such a fight lately, which gave me more confidence in him.”

Receiving no third-quarter pressure as the field remained in single-file order, Irvine got another wish granted, as he was able to continue to set a deliberate middle half pace, as Wilder Echo paced the third-quarter mile in :29.3, reaching the three-quarter mile pole, timed in 1:26.4.

“At that point, I was just hoping to repel any challenges. I thought my chances were still good, but Lucky NZ continued to be my main concern, as I knew I had to hold him off.”

Starting to draw clear as the field entered the stretch, any hopes of opening up a bigger lead were quickly erased when Lucky NZ pocket pulled, while well within reach of Wilder Echo.

“When I saw Lucky NZ come out for the drive, I knew it was time to go to work. I felt my horse could put up a fight and give it his best effort.”

Under urging at mid-stretch, it was clear that Wilder Echo was going to hold his foes at bay.

“He felt very comfortable in the stretch tonight. The further we went down the lane, the more confident I was in him.

Owned by the Gusty Stable, and trained by Chris Bainter, Wilder Echo nicely held firm throughout the lane to win by a long neck, in 1:54, his 36th career triumph.

“It was one more good effort by him,” Irvine finished.

Love Shark (Luke Plano) rallied nicely in the stretch to finish in second, and Lucky NZ, despite a perfect trip to the winner, could do no better than third, another 1-3/4 lengths farther back.