Owner/trainer Matias Ruiz made a couple of winner’s circle appearances early at Cal-Expo during the track's Thursday, January 20 card. Paul The Powerful had altered his style to wire his field, while barn-mate Shoot The Works used more patient tactics to get the job done two races later.

Ruiz conditions Paul The Powerful and Lemoyne Svendsen drives the charge. Luke Plano drove Shoot The Works for Ruiz. The owner/trainer could have won all three races in which he had entrants on the January 20 program, but Little Box Out ran into some traffic troubles and had to settle for second.

Paul The Powerful equalled his lifetime mark of 1:54.1 in his coast-to-coaster and looked like a winner every step of the way.

“I’ve had him for about six months now, and that’s definitely the best race he’s gone for us,” Ruiz said. “He’d been coming from off the pace in his last few, but he’d raced on the front end before.

“I thought the horse I used to have, Wicked Tony, was the one to beat in there. He always comes from behind, so we were able to get the jump on him and I think that made the difference.”

Shoot The Works loves to have his picture taken, with 12 snapshots from his 31 appearances last season and a perfect three-for-three slate on the new year.

“When he’s good, he’s very good,” his mentor noted. “To be honest, I thought he would be on the lead from the rail in there, but they went a little crazy early with a :55.1 half and we were sitting third. Luke knows this horse very well and gave him a great drive. He was patient early and then made a big move on the last turn.”

As mentioned earlier, it could have been a hat trick for the barn from as many races, but Little Box Out got jammed in the stretch and came flying late for second in his mile.

“If you use him early, he doesn’t have the same kick, so he needs a trip,” Ruiz explained. “You have to a little luck with a horse that has that kind of style, and he didn’t get it that night.”

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Thursday, January 27 and will continue through Saturday, January 29. First-race post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PST). First-race post time on Friday (January 28) and Saturday is at 6:00 p.m.

On Saturdays, Cal-Expo offers a reduced 15 per cent takeout rate on both the Early and Late Pick-4 wagers with both Pick-4s having a $10,000 gross-guaranteed pool.

(With files from Cal-Expo)