After taking a few weeks off, Phantom Dan will return to the racing wars in Cal Expo’s Open Pace this Saturday while taking on the classy Pancetta and the streaking Docs Zippy in the main event.

The six-year-old son of Little Steven is owned, trained and driven by James Kennedy and was last seen capturing the March 22 Open Handicap Pace by a nose over heavily-favoured One And Only while lowering his career standard to 1:52.1 in the process.

“There was nothing wrong with him,” Kennedy explained. “It’s just that he’d been racing his you-know-what off and I wanted to give him a bit of a break and do a little work on him.”

While Phantom Dan came from last to account for that most recent outing, in his previous victory in a conditioned affair he used front-end tactics to get the job done, putting his versatility on full display. “I’ve learned that there are two ways to race him,” his mentor noted. “You either leave with him and let him roll, or you duck and let him do his pacing at the end.”

As far as the Phantom Dan you would find around the barn, James describes him as “a pig,’ while wearing a smile on his face. “His happiest times are when he’s in a pen and he can just roll around in the mud. He absolutely loves it. He also eats anything you put in front of him, from donuts to hamburgers.”

Apparently this playful nature and unusual diet agree quite well with the performer, who looks to keep the momentum going this weekend after getting a little ‘R&R’ at Camp Kennedy.

(Cal Expo)