Lilys Hi Ho, who is leading the United States this year with seven tallies and is going for his 10th straight victory, will step up a notch for Cal-Expo's Saturday, March 5 feature. He may very well get his toughest challenge from stablemate Ivegotwhatuneed.
Bob Johnson conditions both of the California-breds. He owns Lilys Hi Ho outright and shares the bills on Ivegotwhatuneed with Marty Garey. Lemoyne 'Mooney' Svendsen, who has been the regular pilot for both, will be behind Lilys Hi Ho for the duo's initial meeting at the head of the pacing class.
“I left it up to Mooney, and he went with Lilys Hi Ho,” Johnson explained. “Rick (Plano) will be driving Ivegotwhatuneed, and I’ve already said that I was going to leave the strategy up to them. Both horses have versatile racing styles, so they have a lot of options.”
Lily’s Hi Ho is a four-year-old son of Hi Ho Silverheels that has only made 34 starts in his career and really hit his stride last fall. He swept through the Denali Series earlier this year in eye-catching fashion, and kept his streak alive last week in a high-priced conditioned claimer.
“He won himself out of that condition last week, so it’s time to move him up and see what he can do against this group,” his mentor explained. “He still puts a few steps in here and there, but he’s very sharp right and it should be interesting.”
As mentioned earlier, Lilys Hi Ho may find his biggest foe in a pacer who lives right next door. Ivegotwhatuneed is an eight-year-old that calls Givemewhatineed his dad. He won at this level two back and was runner-up to Haggin Oaks last week after carving out all the fractions.
“I guess it’s shaping up as the old class horse versus the young up-and-comer,” Johnson noted. “There are also some other nice horses in there, so on a fast track I wouldn’t surprised if it takes a 1:53 mile or less to win it.”
Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Thursday, March 3 and will continue through Saturday, March 5. First-race post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PST). First-race post time on Friday, March 4 and Saturday is at 6:00 p.m.
On Saturday, Cal-Expo will offer a reduced 15 per cent takeout rate on both the Early and Late Pick-4 wagers, with both Pick-4s having a $10,000 gross-guaranteed pool.
(Cal-Expo)