Standardbreds come back after layoffs and win races without much fanfare. Although, when the break is eight months long and it includes prolonged medical attention after ‘shipping fever,’ those wins are all-the-more sweeter.

There was a lot more to Winsom Kelly’s victory in a conditioned trot last week at Cal Expo than meets the eye.

The 10-year-old Egocentric gelding – who carries the banner of Nikki Hudson and KC Carvalho and is reined and trained by Luke Plano – was putting a happy ending to what could have been a tragedy last spring.

“We were taking him to Running Aces for the summer meet and he got what they call shipping fever,” Plano explained. “He had pneumonia with lots of fluid in his lungs and he had to be rushed to the University of Minnesota.

“He was there for several weeks and it was actually touch and go there for a while. I want to thank Mike Minnella, who really stepped up when we needed it.”

Winsome Kelly – who was claimed by Plano a year and a half ago for a bargain $4,000 before working his way up to the Open level – got back into training late last year and was making his fourth start on the comeback trail when he clicked in that last appearance.

“I was a little concerned when he first came back, because he’d always been very aggressive in his training and he was acting a little on the lethargic side,” Plano related.

“I raced him a little conservatively in his first couple of starts, then he showed me in his race two back that he was getting to his old self when he came a ‘27-and-change’ final quarter. He put it all together last week, and it was a very satisfying win all the way around.”

Northern Stormont Heads Marquee In Open Trot

The Steve Wiseman-trained Northern Stormont, who has accounted for two of his last four appearances in impressive fashion, heads the cast for Sunday evening’s $6,000 Open Trot.

A field of six will face the starter with Northern Stormont leaving from the assigned outside post. Taking him on are the James Kennedy-trained pair of Commandergalleon and Bankers For All; the Robin Clements-conditioned Frank Provolone and Winsom Kelly from the Luke Plano shed row.

There will be 12 races Sunday night with first post of 4:55 p.m. and the headliner will occupy the eighth-race slot on the program.

Northern Stormont is a five-year-old son of Earl Of Stormont who carries the banner of George McCrystal, Mark Kremen and Scott Ehrlich. He has captured 11 of his 62 lifetime starts and set his 1:54.4 mark last year at Hoosier Park.

The bay sidewheeler was an easy winner of a conditioned event on December 12, then had to settle for a third and a fifth-place in his next two starts with conditioner Wiseman at the controls while taking on the likes of hard-hitters El Azteca and Flameon.

He last suited up on January 3 in an Open III affair with Plano guiding and returned to his winning ways with a perfect stalk-and-pounce trip while adding Lasix. Northern Stormont should be tough in this spot no matter how things shake out early.

Winsom Kelly is fresh from a facile conditioned tally over a ‘sloppy’ track and looks like a major threat right back for Plano. Nikki Hudson and KC Carvalho own the 10-year-old son of Egocentric, who was a 1:56 1/5 victor here last season for his career standard.

(With files from Cal Expo)