He "bounced" in a negative way after a month of solid miles. On Saturday night (January 30), Putoneonnetformom “bounced back” in a positive way
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A field of seven conditioned trotters, as well as three in for a claiming tag, were featured at Cal-Expo, on which Putoneonnetformom won his third race in the last four.
In advance of starting from Post 3 in the field of 10, trainer Rocky Stidham knew there were a couple of obstacles to deal with.
"It was a very competitive field and he was a little off his game last week, so I was concerned with his sharpness," stated Stidham. "My hopes were to get away with good position and see what happened from there."
Leaving to get the pocket an eighth of a mile past the start into a :29.2 first-quarter, Stidham found himself in the tight three-hole at the 5-16ths mile marker.
"The pace had slowed up and they jammed up pretty hard right there. I had thoughts of flipping to the front, but because of him not being as good last week - I decided to sit."
With a lively outer flow passing him at the 7-16ths mile pole, Stidham found himself locked in fifth at the half-mile station, timed in 1:00.4, but he wasn’t concerned.
"I felt better when they started coming because the pace started to pick back up and I thought I was still okay because the horses in front of me were pretty live."
Remaining locked in while now sixth at the three-quarter mile marker, timed in 1:30.2, Stidham had reason to be optimistic, but also knew important decisions were seconds away.
"He was feeling very good at the three-quarters, but I knew I'd have one split second to make a decision of which way to go in the stretch."
Moving up the inside just as the field entered the stretch, Stidham and his charge were beaten to the punch by the pocket sitting Easter Call (Jim Lackey).
"That was the part I was worried about, but then I saw Sheilas Dream (Gene Vallandingham) had made a break - so I knew right then that if I had any shot that I had to move to the right."
Moving to the outside and free with just under an eighth of a mile to go, Putoneonnetformom was asked the question. Did he have the right answer?
"When he saw daylight and I went to work, he squatted down and starting digging and I just kept driving to the wire with the hopes of getting there."
Under strong urging and flying in the last sixteenth of a mile in quest of catching Easter Call, who had taken over the lead, it now came down to who could do the better work.
"He was perfectly straight and very responding late and awesome at the wire. I was about 70 percent sure I had gotten up.
Bred and owned by Jeff, Gerald, and Diana Cimini, the six year-old gelding put his nose in front when it counted to win ($25.00) in 1:59.4. Easter Call just missed and had to settle for second, and I Look Special (Steve Wiseman) came on to finish one-length farther back, in third.
"It was a great race considering he was coming off a bad race. It's always good to come back as strong as ever after a disappointing performance," finished Stidham.
(Cal-Expo)