All eyes were focused on Macs Derrick T, but after a recall fired him up and a duel tired him up, it was up to Mad River Hanover to come to the rescue of the entry and he did
.
Claiming pacers were featured at Cal-Expo on Friday night (Oct. 15) in the $11,400 Gee Gee Digger Final, in which Mad River Hanover allowed the chalk players to breath a sigh of relief.
With the field yet to be sent on their way, there was good news and bad news for the Rick Plano trained entry at 3-5. The good news was one half of the entry didn't mind the recall. The bad news is that the horse it affected was the Leg 1 and Leg 2 winner, Macs Derrick T (Rick Plano), who clearly was the horse to beat --but who had blasted off the gate when the starter closed the wings after a recall, thus becoming a handful to get pulled up.
"The recall didn't affect me much, but it may have affected the more aggressive horses on the gate," stated Luke Plano, driver of Mad River Hanover. "As a result I expected a faster early pace, which I thought I could only benefit from because my horse doesn't have a lot of early speed."
Coming away in seventh position, but gapping three-lengths and not pacing smoothly in the first-turn, the young Plano had good reason not to be concerned.
"They were stepping out of there pretty good while I was in no hurry, plus my horse is not a great gaited horse. I was just taking my time through the first-turn."
Appearing to be sluggish while cutting his own mile after a snappy :27.2 opening quarter, Plano moved his charge into a very loose third-over spot at the 7/16ths mile pole.
"I figured off the fast pace that they were going to come back to me a little at some point so I figured I better get out in the flow despite the fact that my horse was gapping."
Racing two-lengths off his cover at the half-mile juncture, timed in a contested :56.4, the eight-year-old struggled with turn-trouble on the final bend, yet caught his cover midway through the turn.
"The horse in front of me, Gee Gee Cyril Lee (Rocky Stidham), didn't seem to be pacing the turn a whole lot better than my horse, which is why I caught up to him. At that point I thought I was in striking position."
Starting to tip three-wide at the three-quarter mile marker, timed in 1:25.4, Plano was cautiously optimistic.
"I had quite a bit of pace at that point and thought I had quite a good chance. I was just hoping I could keep him together for the remainder of the mile."
Moving four-wide for the drive at the same point a hard used first-over Roger J (James Kennedy) opened up two-lengths, Plano asked for a little more with an eighth of a mile to go.
"Once he leveled off and smoothened out, I popped the earplugs and he responded smartly and he started pacing to the wire."
Closing in willing fashion while urged little, the gelding got up at the wire.
"I never got by them until late, but I still thought I had it inside the final 16th of a mile because he still had a bit of pace. It was just a matter of getting it out of him."
Owned by Maryann Plano, Mad River Hanover won ($3.40) by a neck in 1:54.4, a seasonal best and his 23rd career victory. Gee Gee Cyril Lee, also trained by Rick Plano, finished in second, and Roger J finished a hard trying third while another three-quarters of one-length farther back.
"I’ve never driven the horse before, but I thought he made up a lot of ground and went a nice trip for me," concluded Plano, who for the second straight night had a driving triple.
On the Friday night card, veteran driver Rocky Stidham had four wins.
(Cal Expo)