For those keeping score, Its A Horse has three-straight wins at the head of the class, including the Joe Lighthill Trot two weeks ago.
Owned by Ray Alan Miller, trained by Marco Rios and driven by Dean Magee, Its A Horse had no trouble with the "sloppy" going in the Lighthill and reported home with two-and-three-quarter lengths to spare that evening.
“The owner bought this horse last year and turned him out for sixth months, then I got him,” Rios said when asked about the soon-to-be seven-year-old Ohio-bred. With his last tally, he is closing on the $100,000-earnings plateau.
Its A Horse likes to relax early and save his best for late, although in his last two wins he made his moves earlier than usual and actually had the lead by the time they hit the stretch on both occasions.
“If you look at the races going back to when he was at Northfield Park, he was racing on the lead, but we were able to teach him a different style and it’s worked very well,” Rios said. “As far as the sloppy track last time, I was a little concerned, but he had trained so well all week I still had a lot of confidence.”
Rios acknowledged that having veteran Magee at the controls is a major plus. He said, “[Dean Magee] knows all about the flow of the race, and if he feels he has to move early, he does it. The horse is very sharp right now and it’s been very satisfying.”
Virgin Eyes seeking encore in main event
Virgin Eyes, fresh from a game win over a "sloppy" track two weeks ago, attempts a curtain call in Saturday night’s $6,200 Filly and Mare Open II Pace.
The headliner will go as the eighth of 12 races presented under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post at 6:10 p.m.
A four-year-old daughter of Always A Virgin, Virgin Eyes has turned in two big efforts since arriving from the East for owner Aleksandra Karl and Jacob Fox. In a needed local debut on Nov. 29, she rallied smartly for the place spot despite suffering poor cover.
In her most recent assignment over the wet going, Virgin Eyes brushed to the lead for Fox past the quarter, withstood a strong challenge on the final turn and prevailed by a length as the 5-2 choice.
Marilyn was a strong runner-up that evening after posting nice tallies versus softer competition in her previous two appearances. Mark Anderson owns, Gordie Graham trains and James Kennedy has the return assignment.
Dancingonthesand is a long-fused mare who will certainly have her share of backers off her two solid victories with this group last month. The Alan Cooper-owned, Kathie Plested-trained disaffer has Mooney Svendsen guiding from post 7 in the field of nine.
Completing the cast are Shock N Awe, Capitol Hill, Magnifique, Brighten Your Life, Morgangetsherway and Cenalta Glory.
(Cal-Expo)