Trainer Kennedy Lindsey compares his five-year-old trotting mare Kickinitwithkohler to a locomotive when saying, ”She doesn’t have any gate speed, but she just keeps on building and building up as the races goes on and then comes at the end.”

The Illinois-bred daughter of Southwind Breeze races for Tonight’s The Night and has been under Lindsey’s care since he purchased her two years ago.

She’s earned over $40,000 in the interim and will be doing her work for the second straight time in Cal Expo’s Open ranks on Friday (March 24) while racing against a familiar rival in Silverlode.

“She’s got a big heart,” Lindsey related. “Let’s just say her heart is bigger than her talent at this point. But don’t get me wrong, if she ever learned to trot straight, she’d really be something.”

With James Kennedy at the controls, Kickinitwithkohler recorded back-to-back conditioned scores in February at Cal Expo, on both occasions coming from well back to win going away.

She is coming off a pair of thirds at the head of the class versus the aforementioned Silverlode, and in between those two miles was the runner-up behind Lodi Dorian Blues in a solid March 3 tilt.

“If they go quick early, you know she’s going to be pretty far back,” her mentor noted. “But you also know she’s going to be coming at the end.”

OPEN TROT BRINGS OUT STREAKING SILVERLODE

Silverlode, who has rattled off four straight wins at the head of the class with the last pair coming from the demanding Post 10, once again has that assigned post as she heads the cast for Friday night’s featured Open Trot.

Watch and Wager LLC will present a 12-race program with a first post of 6:15 p.m. The headliner will go as the third event on the evening. There will also be a California Sire Stakes race for three-year-olds to be decided as a non-betting race prior to the regular card.

Silverlode is an eight-year-old homebred daughter of British Sterling out of the Website mare Charlottes Web who is owned by Desomer Stables Inc, trained by Vickie Desomer and will have Luke Plano handling the lines.

Silverlode comes into the assignment with $155,000 in earnings and a 1:55.1 mark that was established over this track last season. She is undefeated this year with Plano handling the lines on each of those occasions.

The Desomer colourbearer left into a pocket journey in the January 13 Open and overpowered favoured arch-rival Flameon that evening. She has been odds-on in her last three outings without that foe in the line-up and has not disappointed her many backers.

Silverlode looped the field to prevail by four and a half-lengths on February 11, then captured the February 24 Open while doing her work from this assigned Post 10 in game fashion. She changed tactics last week and made every pole a winning one, putting her versatility on display from the tough slot.

Completing the cast are Agrestores Comet with Mooney Svendsen; Fort Valley As, David Siegel; Kickinitwithkohler, James Kennedy; and Lodi Dorian Blues, who will have the services of Steve Wiseman.

(Cal Expo)