Three year-old pacing fillies were featured at Cal Expo on Friday night (May 13) in a $15,000 California Sires Stakes, in which Math Wiz was fastest of all

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In advance of starting from post position five in the field of 10, driver Luke Plano only had to think back seven days to formulate his opinion.

"She raced good last week winning the elimination, so obviously I thought her chances were good," stated Plano.

Coming away in seventh position, but while four horses left, Plano, at the quarter-mile pole timed in a quick :28.3 for windy conditions, wasn't surprised nor disappointed.

"I expected a few guys to be leaving and the quarter to be decent. Given they went a decent quarter, I thought I was in a live spot while ultimately looking for some live cover."

Racing third over at the three-eighths mile pole and still in seventh position at the half-mile marker, timed in a wind-aided :59.1, Plano wasn't worried about the pacesetting Poor House (James Kennedy) getting a second-quarter breather.

"I wasn't really concerned with the fractions at that point because I thought I was following the best horse, Whip And A Prayer (Rich Wojcio), who I thought would take me a long ways."

Following Whip And A Prayer three-wide at the three-quarter mile pole, timed in 1:28.4, there was good news and bad news.

"I had quite a bit of pace, but the first-over horse, Moximum (Lemoyne Svendsen), kind of stalled a little earlier than I anticipated. As a result I thought at the three-quarters that I had a mountain to climb because Dine N Wine (Steve Wiseman) looked like she had a lot of pace, plus she was in the pocket."

Moving four-wide for the drive and brushing while four-lengths off the lead that Dine N Wine had taken over at that same point, ahref="http://trackit.standardbredcanada.ca/?op=QRAP&id=566818">Math Wiz quickly gained at the seven-eighths mile marker, but Dine N Wine had two lengths on her.

"I had an awful lot of 'go' at that point and thought I had a really good chance of running Dine N Wine down. I, however, didn't know how much 'go' Dine N Wine still had so I didn't know if I could reel her in."

Continuing to close smartly and flying late, was time running out for Math Wiz?

"The more I asked her, the more she came on powerfully. And the closer I got to Dine N Wine, the more I thought I was going to get by earlier than I did. But it ended up being a tight photo, but my filly fought it out."

Bred and owned by Wayne and Rod Knittel, the Rick Plano-trained sophomore got up in the last stride to win ($7.80) in solid fashion by a head, in 1:59. Dine N Wine had to settle for the place honours and Racetrack Diva (Tim Maier) finished five-lengths farther back in third.

"It was a good mile for her. She has only had four lifetime starts now and shows a lot of potential. She's sharp right now and hopefully she stays that way," finished Plano.

(Cal Expo)