Luke Plano will be driving the hard-knocking Split Ticket in Cal-Expo's main event on Saturday, March 12, and there is no shortage in the confidence department when he talks about the seven-year-old pacer.
“He’s classy and a pleasure to drive,” said Plano, who has guiding the son of Bettors Delight to some big wins at the head of the division over the Cal-Expo course. “As far as style, he can leave or he can sit and come at them, so he can do it all.”
Split Ticket finished up last year in style, as he dominated the best on the grounds through the middle of November, but then was away from the wars for over three months. The Open Pace wasn’t being written, so his connections decided to give him a little time off before kicking off the 2011 campaign.
Since coming back, he has had to be happy with minor awards, but each of his three appearances have resulted in an improved mile. Last week he checked in third behind Haggin Oaks, who will not be suiting up this weekend.
“He’s the type of horse who doesn’t get all that much out of his training, so it figured that he would need some racing before he got back to his best form,” Plano explained. “He had a real easy qualifier, then he was definitely short for his first race and a little tighter for the next one.
Last week saw the Liberio Pacheco trainee stalking the pace set by Ivegotwhatuneed. When asked, he came home with a :27 final quarter to miss by a length and a half to the two mares Haggin Oaks and Red Star Ruffles.
“Last time was certainly his best mile since he’s come back,” Plano noted. “He left out of there some and he gave me a real good finish. Considering the race comes up a little softer this time and now he has another start, he should be right there.”
Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Thursday, March 10 and will continue through Saturday, March 12. First-race post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PST). First-race post time on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 is 6:00 p.m.
(Cal-Expo)