by Scott Ehrlich, publicity department, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — You would think that pacing the track’s fastest mile of the year would easily get you a win, but that wasn’t the case for Wilder Echo as he’d just hold on.

Conditioned pacers, racing for a purse of $5,500, were co-featured at Cal-Expo on Friday night (March 7), on which Wilder Echo won a nail biter.

Prior to starting from post position three in the field of seven, driver Lemoyne Svendsen was advised of the complexity of the classy 9-year-old.

“They told me to watch out for a lot of things with him, like jumping tire tracks, as well as to keep him busy — so that’s what I did,” said Svendsen. “I thought he had a very good chance — which is the reason I chose to drive him over Bob Lee (Todd Ratchford).

Leaving and clearing to the front just after the field had traveled an eighth of a mile into a :27.3 first quarter, Svendsen, in the second quarter, would show his charge the whip through most of the panel — as per pre-race suggestions.

“Like they told me, this horse has his quirks — which he showed me in the post parade when he jumped a swirl that was left from when the tractor turned to go back to the shed — so I let him see my whip in the second quarter.”

Reaching the half-mile station, timed in :56.1, Svendsen had yet to touch the pedal.

“He was on cruise at that point and I still felt pretty comfortable about his chances.”

Continuing to chase after the gelding in the third quarter while opening up a little under wheel-disc urging midway through the final turn, Wilder Echo would reach the three-quarter marker, timed in 1:24.2, with Svendsen now knowing what time it was.

“I knew it was time to gas.”

Now under a drive in the stretch with the pocket stalking Biggest Big Bertha (Rick Plano) tracking his every move, Svendsen would ask for everything Wilder Echo had as Biggest Big Bertha was now out for the drive and creeping closer with every stride in the last sixteenth of the mile.

“I started tagging him because that’s what I was told to do and I kept on urging right through to the wire because I wasn’t sure if I had won or not because Biggest Big Bertha kept coming on.”

Owned by the Gusty Stable and trained by Bob Johnson, Wilder Echo would just last to win ($3.60) by a hair, in 1:51.4, a seasonal best and his 44th career victory. Biggest Big Bertha just missed while having to settle for the place honors, and Bob Lee finished another 2-1/4 lengths farther back in third.

“He’s an awesome horse — a real racehorse. It was good for me too because it was my fastest mile ever,” concluded Svendsen.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Saturday (March 8) at 5:35 p.m. (PST). On Saturday at Cal-Expo, it’s Dollar Night, on which hot dogs, beer, soda, and wine will be sold for one dollar each.