“Her name comes from the way she was acting right after she came into this world … She was vocal right from the get-go, and when we walked up and peered over the wall, she had just finished nursing and gave us quite a greeting.”

La Madawna De Rosa, who will suit up in Sunday’s Open III Pace for fillies and mares (Race 6) at Cal Expo, is the pride and joy of her owner/breeder Cindy Tupper. Lester Smith is her trainer. Mark Kennedy will driver her on Sunday.

Racing with conditioned rivals last weekend, the seven-year-old daughter of Little Steven proved a punctual 4-5 favourite under Kennedy’s direction, as she stormed home from last to prevail by three-quarters of a length while just missing her lifetime standard by a tick with the 1:56 final clocking.

“She’s the first foal from her dam, Keystone Rosedale, and her name comes from the way she was acting right after she came into this world,” Tupper explained. “She was foaled at UC Davis and we got to see her within 15 minutes of her birth.

“She was vocal right from the get-go, and when we walked up and peered over the wall, she had just finished nursing and gave us quite a greeting.

“At that point, she came wobbly-legged over to us, stuck her nose up and whinnied again as if to stay ‘Hi, how have you been?’ She then did a little dance around the stall a couple of times and has been in your face and a show off every since. Thus the Madonna name.”

For the record, the diminutive mare has won 12 of her 95 starts, with 16 seconds and 14 thirds thrown in for good measure and has $57,000 in her bank account.

Because she was a late foal on June 8, La Madawna De Rosa didn’t race as a two-year-old. In fact, when Tupper first approached trainer Bob Johnson, he expressed doubts she would ever make it to the races as she was much smaller than anyone in the barn.

“She proved herself and surprised him and his second trainer, Robert Bell, at that time. She got a second in her third race, followed by two consecutive wins with a :27.3 last quarter and a 1:57 new lifetime mark in April of 2012.”

After productive campaigns at ages three and four, La Madawna De Rosa came up lame in front in January of 2014 and a decision was made to give her all the time she needed. “She returned in the fall, with Leon Smith training, and got her first win in November with Williams Hernandez driving.

“She also had two wins in December with Luke Plano and ended up with a total of 14 races for the year.”

Last season saw the Tupper representative make 22 appearances. This year she has 11 trips to the post thus far and a pair of snapshots, including last week’s popular score.

The mare has always done her best work from the back of the pack, preferring to save her best for last. “She has consistently come home off the pace, many times from last or near last in the field,” Cindy noted. “Many of her races have also resulted in photo finishes.”

In addition to La Madawna De Rosa’s exploits, Tupper is also proud of her five-year-old full sister, La Diva De Rosa, who has captured three of her last four starts, including a dead-heat with Smash last week.

Hi Ho Houdini, Uringoodhands stakes combatants

Hi Ho Houdini, a dominating winner of the last two big-money events for the division this season, is set to square off squares off against the hard-hitting Uringoodhands in Sunday evening’s featured $10,000 California Sire Stakes at Cal Expo.

The featured event for four-year-old pacing males is scheduled as the third contest on an 11-race card and the action is set to get underway at 5:05 p.m.

Hi Ho Houdini is a son of Hi Ho Silverheels out of the Park Place mare Holls Park Place who carries the banner of Lujuanna Lopez with Gordie Graham the conditioner and Luke Plano in his usual spot in the sulky.

The bay performer comes into this assignment having landed in the charmed enclosure following seven of his 10 starts. Included in those wins are a victory in the Marvin Shapiro Pace and a trio of sire stakes decisions.

Hi Ho Houdini established his lifetime mark of 1:53.1 when he accounted for the February 6 stakes gathering for this group, doing the track-and-attack to perfection for Plano while prevailing by two and a half lengths that evening.

Uringoodhands is a Kents On Nuke homebred who races for Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham shedrow and will be guided by James Kennedy this weekend.

The dark-hued performer was the dominant player in the division last year while winning nine of his six starts, and while he has a lifetime best 1:53.1 conditioned score to his credit in 2016, he has had to settle for second behind Hi Ho Houdini in the first two sire stakes this season. Lodi Machette Man, Hi Hos Little Rev and Musician complete the cast.

(Cal Expo)