Cal Expo now offers a pair of Super High 5s on the third and eighth events each evening. Last Sunday (January 3) saw longshot Heavy Pockets ignite a $16,225 payoff in the 50-cent wager.

Heavy Pockets crossed the wire first at 55-1 for owner/driver Paul Welence. The mare was followed home by 7-5 favourite Suzette Seelster. Ravenswood Racey at 7-1, a 12-1 shot in Music Man, and the 13-1 Mow Em Down rounded out the quintet.

Will there be another bonanza in the Super High 5s on Thursday, January 7? Racing secretary Fred Kuebler has carded a pair of contentious tilts in those slots, including an overflow cast of 12 trotters in the eighth.

Looking at Thursday night’s feature, Claudius Augustus will attempt to add another score to his impressive resume in the $6,800 Open Trot. A six-year-old son of Angus Hall out of the Speedy Claude mare Claudes Last Lady, Claudius Augustus carries the banner of Debra Budahn with Bob Johnson the conditioner and Steve Wiseman handling the lines.

The classy performer comes into this assignment with 15 wins from his 33 trips to the post, $188,000 in earnings and a 1:53.3 mark which was established last season at Indiana Downs. He set that career standard winning an Open back in September, made one more start in a stakes at Lexington, and then returned to California and Johnson’s barn.

Claudius Augustus was runner-up to Cherry Tree Luke in his comeback mile over a 'sloppy' track on December 11, then was sent off the 3-5 choice in last week’s top dance and did not disappoint his many backers. He was parked to command at the quarter, fought off a challenge from first-over Cherry Tree Luke turning for home, and proved two lengths the best with Wiseman that evening.

Cherry Tree Luke faltered to fourth in that affair after making a bid on the final bend and will be gunning for some revenge for owner Michael Lugar and driver/trainer Rick Plano. This 10-year-old son of Sierra Kosmos had a solid 2009 campaign, reporting to the charmed enclosure following 11 of his 36 tries, including a 1:56.2 lifetime-best over this layout.

An earner of $219,000, Cherry Tree Luke finished up the last season by capturing two of the final three Opens, including that aforementioned December 11 race in the slop where he made every pole a winning one. He will be dangerous no matter how things shake out early. Completing the field are up and coming Calzone, TV Mom, Jam And Jelly, Iverman and Dreamanotherdream.

Iverman Gets Ready For Double Duty

Iverman is a hard-knocking eight-year-old trotter with some back class, and that has been on display of late with a handy victory three back and then a near miss last weekend after a game first-over mile.

The veteran goes about his business for Bennie Mancino’s Sling & A Stone Stable with Nathalie Tremblay the conditioner. This year will also see him mixing his racing with some stud duty.

“He’s a son of Muscles Yankee, and you don’t get much better than that,” explained Tremblay. “I’ve had him for a year now, and you couldn’t ask for a stud to have a better personality. He knows when it’s time to go out there and he just loves to race.”

Iverman likes to do his best work from off the pace, which often means he’s at the mercy of the fractions. A swift pace and a second-over trip resulted in the aforementioned December 11 score with James Kennedy, while a moderate half kept him from showing his stuff two back. Last week’s effort was very game, as he fell just a head short of posting a $30 upset with Scott Cisco in the sulky.

“That last race was very good, and he got beat by a pretty tough horse in Final Choice, who was able to find room along the rail. He has some issues around the turns, which is why we don’t like to use him early, and when you come from behind you need things to set up.”

While Iverman has had a few foals in the past, this will be his first official season at stud. Mancini will be sending some mares to his court, and Tremblay noted that she will be mating Anns Nestegg’s dam, R Nestegg, with him in hopes of coming up with a nice youngster for the Sire Stakes program.

Meringue Attempts To Relocate Circle

The $5,300 co-feature on Friday, January 8 will bring out a very interesting group of trotters, including the storybook Challenge The King, the multiple stakes-winning Meringue and hard-knockers like Final Choice and I Look Special.

Meringue is a five-year-old son of Jonathan Lobell who carries the banner of Dawn Evango and is conditioned by Hans Rynningen. He has close to $160,000 in his account and a 1:55.2 mark that was set last season at the Meadowlands.

Since returning from his eastern sojourn, however, the dark-hued trotter has had to settle for minor prizes in his last four appearances, going off at odds of 1-2, 6-5 and even-money in the last three. If an apology is in the cards, it figures to be at healthier odds in this contentious cast.

A 60-year-old native of Norway, Rynningen first came to the United States when he was just a teenager.

“I guess I’ve spent about half my life in Norway and half here,” he related. “Harness racing is very big back there, and I was always around horses and had neighbors who raced. I actually started doing some training of my own in Norway when I was about in my mid 30s, and we only have trotters.”

While he has had several businesses in his career, Hans always found time to dabble in racing, and a few years ago found himself with a farm in Stockton where he and a friend were taking care of turnouts. This led him to meeting horsemen like Rocky Stidham, and one thing led to another until he was here at Cal Expo with a string of his own.

“Jades Crown was my first,” he said. “I don’t really care to race them young, but Meringue had such exceptional talent and was just such a fast learner,” Rynningen concluded.

O'Mara New Face On The Scene

Dan O’Mara is spending his winter at Cal Expo, bringing a handful of harness performers for his first venture into California racing.

“The plan right now is to see how things go,” related the 54-year-old horseman. “I might stay as late as June, and then we’ll go back to Indiana Downs. This is my first time here and I’m enjoying it, I just wish there were more trotters so there would be extra classes for them.”

O’Mara is a third generation harness horseman. His grandfather, Paddy, got things started, while his father, Frank, carried on the tradition. Dan’s brother, Mark, is also an accomplished driver/trainer, having trained and driven the great Jate Lobell.

When asked about his best horse, Dan is quick to point to the outstanding distaff trotter Babe Kosmos, who was the aged champion in 1985 and went on to earn over $250,000.

“She won the Su Mac Lad and was second in the first Breeders Crown,” O’Mara related. “They didn’t have a filly division back then, so she had to race against the boys and was runner-up to Sandy Bowl. She raced in a lot of those big races, including the International, and at one time had a world record at Garden State.”

One More Molly Seeks 11th Straight

One More Molly is the hottest performer at Cal-Expo with 10 straight trips to the charmed circle, and Tim and Denise Maier’s pacer will attempt to keep the momentum going in the fourth race Sunday, January 10.

The five-year-old daughter of Hi Ho Silverheels came into last November with a non-descript record of nine wins from 81 trips to the post while doing her work at the lower levels, and nobody is more surprised at the current hot streak than Denise.

“She was just an easy going mare who had raced okay up to that point,” her owner said. “Tim and I are as surprised as anybody that she’s been able to do this, because she didn’t seem to have that winning spirit. I can’t say that we found anything new about her, she’s just racing very well.”

While One More Molly deserves plenty of credit for the 10 straight victories, Tim Maier has certainly been an important part of the equation. He managed to work out four straight pocket journeys with his charge between November 19 and December 10, then rallied second over to seal the deal two back.

“Let’s just say she’s had some wonderful trips along the way,” Denise said.

Tim and his pacing companion faced more of a challenge last week, however, as for the first time along this charmed few months she was leaving from the testing 9 post. While One More Molly usually prefers to do her work from a stalking position, Maier took matters into his own hands and after being parked to the lead at the quarter, ended up making every pole a winning one that evening.

“It was a nice Christmas present,” Denise explained. “Every one of these wins has been a pleasant surprise, and it would be nice if she could keep it going.”

Can this 'pleasant surprise' keep the streak alive while once again doing her work from the outside slot in a field of six? We’ll soon see.

Looking to deny her this weekend are Beach Beach Beach with Lemoyne Svendsen; Wicked Beach for James Kennedy; Trishie Mae and Luke Plano; Sadies Desert Fox with Rick Plano, and Stick Up, who will leave from the rail with David Siegel.

Interestingly, One More Molly needs to account for two more races before she matches the longest winning streak for a performer under the Tim and Denise banner. In 2007 and 2008, the California-bred trotter Smooth Jazz started her career with 12 straight victories, all in sire stakes events, before suffering a setback.

While on the subject of winning streaks, Muscle Hill, almost certainly the Horse of the Year, was undefeated in 12 starts last season before going to the breeding shed.

The two-year-old pacing filly Meridian Magic finished off her 2009 campaign with 11 straight wins, the most recent in November, in Atlantic Canada.

One More Molly is one of four horses that currently has 10-race winning streaks going. The others are Power Of A Moment (Illinois), Scarlet Patti (another two-year-old filly in the Canadian Maritimes), and Media Darling (a two-year-old filly in Michigan).

Also, just a reminder that the next three weeks will see the trotters and pacers in action on a Thursday-through-Sunday night schedule. Beginning January 27, Sunday racing will be vacated and a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule will be in place.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday, January 7 and will continue through Sunday, January 10. First-race post time on Thursday and Friday (January 8) is at 5:35 p.m. (PST). First-race post time on Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

(Cal Expo)