It may have said 27-1 on the board, but Incredible Gambler looked more like an odds-on favourite last week at Cal Expo as she took aim on the leaders at the head of the stretch and won going away with Dave Siegel in the sulky. She will attempt an encore in Saturday night’s 10th race at the California oval.

Incredible Gambler, a seven-year-old daughter of Allamerican Ingot, currently carries the banner of Clint Lugar and hails from the barn of Lino Pacheco. Making her first start since late August at Vernon Downs and sporting a qualifier with the comment ‘under wraps,’ Incredible Gambler was ready to rock and roll off the bench.

While Siegel was merely the passenger for the latest victory, he has a successful history with Incredible Gambler that also includes posing for pictures as the owner of this hard-hitting distaffer. “I claimed her back in April of last year,” Siegel explained. “I owned her for a little over a year, though she was claimed a couple of times in between. Matias Ruiz trained her and she was about as reliable a performer as there can be.

“I have won with her 11 times, and I think except for one race where she broke, she got a cheque in something like 25 consecutive races. Clint purchased her from me at the end of the last meet and she raced very well in Minnesota for Luke Plano, but did not seem to like the track at Vernon Downs as much as she does the Cal Expo oval.”

Incredible Gambler, who went over the $90,000 earnings mark with her most recent appearance for Team Lugar/Pacheco/Siegel, can pretty much get the job done from any position in the race, but does have a preference.

“While she can race any which way, she likes coming off the pace the best, so with our shorter fields and wide turns, she is really well suited for Sacramento,” Siegel said. “I was really excited when Clint asked me to drive her, especially when we have some really good drivers here. I guess he saw how I had done with her and gave me the nod.

“She qualified super, and I was just hoping for a good, off-the-pace trip with her in her first outing after the trip west. But the front went fast enough, and she was her old self coming from the back. It’s really nice to be reunited and I hope I can continue to do well with her.”

Its Getting Hairy, Phantom Dan Square off

Saturday night’s 13-race program is headed by an Open Pace that finds Its Getting Hairy and Phantom Dan in a rematch, with the former going from the outside while Phantom Dan gets some serious relief as he moves from the demanding 10 slot to the No. 5 post for this assignment.

Since running into serious traffic problems and losing all chance in his local debut, Its Getting Hairy has posted back-to-back impressive victories for Tim and Denise Maier. The four-year-old son of Relentless Yankee was haltered from a $6,000 claimer in August at Running Aces and set his 1:52.3 mark 10 days later over that track. He is looking for his ninth win on the year from 21 appearances.

Its Getting Hairy came from last to prove a powerful winner in a conditioned affair on November 2; was scratched from his next scheduled outing, and then got to the job done at the top rung in his most recent tour. Sitting next to last until the final bend, he swung out to take aim on the leaders turning for home and rolled by for the two and a quarter-length score.

Phantom Dan kicked off the meet with three straight victories, but could not overcome the assigned 10 post last time and faltered. James Kennedy drives, trains and co-owns the five-year-old son of Little Steven with Jennifer Burns and he could easily rebound now that he isn’t doing his work from that testing slot.

The bay performer was unbeatable at Cal Expo between October 26 and November 9, with the last two scores coming at the Open level. In fact, he was not beaten to a pole in those outings, twice hitting the wire in 1:54.2 and clocking a 1:55 mile in the other. His 1:53.1 lifetime standard was established over the Cal Expo layout earlier in the season.

One And Only has been knocking on the door with two seconds and a third since returning from Vernon Downs in New York, where he set his 1:52.4 mark this summer. Richard Morita and David Yamada own, Lino Pacheco trains and Luke Plano will once again handle the lines.

Completing the field are Giant Sculpture, who has the cozy rail slot with trainer Gene Vallandingham in the sulky; the Gretchen Smith-trained Steuben Jumpnjack, to be guided by Steve Wiseman; and Split Ticket, who gives the Pacheco barn two looks at the outcome with Chip Lackey at the controls.

(Cal Expo)