After having made every pole a winning one in a division of the opening leg, Crusin For You will attempt to nail down the Robert Staats final on Sunday evening at Cal Expo.

A three-year-old Pennsylvania-bred son of Yankee Cruiser out of the Precious Bunny mare You Are Precious, Crusin For You carries the banner of Richard Morita and David Yamada with Lino Pacheco training and Luke Plano once again in the sulky.

Sent off as the 7-5 second choice in last weekend’s try, which was his second appearance at the meet, the bay colt went right to the front for Plano and was able to dictate the fractions to his liking. He went on to win by one length over the favoured Mistup Magic in 1:57.2.

“Crusin For You is a pacer that we bought at a sale early in the year, and my partner, Dave, picked him out,” said Morita. “He was a lightly raced, and a small horse that looked like he had some ‘go’ when we watched replays. We raced him a little for education in the spring, then gave him a full four to five months in the field to grow up.

“While he hasn't gotten much taller, he has filled out with some muscle and has trained back nicely. Lino and his son, Jesse, have done a really good job getting him ready for this season of racing. We have our fingers crossed for this week's final, and know there are many tough competitors in the race.”

Among those top competitors are Outlawsparkthewind and Musician, who finished one-two in the other division of last week’s Staats in a sharp 1:55 mile, and Mistup Magic, who will be gunning for a little revenge.

A reminder there are two wagers on the program that comes with a reduced 16 per cent takeout rate. They are the 50-cent Pick 5, which this season features a 25 per cent minor pool payout; and the 20-cent Pick 4, which comes with a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool.

EL AZTECA, STAATS FINAL COMMAND THE SPOTLIGHT

The $8,800 Robert Staats Pacing Series finale and a $6,000 Open I Handicap Trot featuring El Azteca have top billing Sunday evening at Cal Expo

A 10-race card is on tap Sunday under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post set for 5:10 p.m. The Staats finale will go as sixth race, while the Open I Trot immediately follows as the seventh event on the program.

El Azteca made a successful return to Cal Expo last weekend and has once again been assigned Post 10 in the field of seven. Luke Plano will handle the reins for owner/trainer/breeder Marco Rios.

Outlawsparkthewind figures to be well backed in the Staats finale after having scored a very game victory last weekend for the team of owner Drew Anderson, trainer Bob Johnson and pilot Chip Lackey. The four-year-old is a Canadian-bred son of Blue Burner and established a lifetime mark with his 1:55 score at Cal Expo.

Outlawsparkthewind was parked the journey in that affair while battling for the lead, then dug in gamely in the stretch to prevail by a length over Musician for his second snapshot on the season.

The latter is a sophomore from the Vickie Desomer barn who made a solid late move and looks to be sitting on a big effort. The Emilio Cisneros colourbearer will once again be handled by James Kennedy and is looking for his second career tally after earning his diploma over this layout back in late April.

Rounding out the field are Mistup Magic, who gives the Johnson barn two looks at the outcome; the Kennedy Lindsey-trained Whatcamacallum; Whata Bozness from the Edwin Quevedo shedrow; Heartland Slushie for Steve Crump; the Junior Wilkinson trainee Lil Stevie Oneder; and the Lino Pacheco-conditioned Crusin For You.

(Cal Expo)