He didn't win as decisively, but when 1:52.2 came up on the board, it didn't matter because Albion was in front at the wire for his third straight
.
Winners Over pacers, racing for a purse of $4,500, were featured at Cal Expo on Saturday night (April 7), on which Albion won for the 24th time.
With the field sent on their way, driver Luke Plano was set to leave with his pacer, but his six-year-old needed a reminder as a result of a good memory.
"I ducked him last week, so he really didn't have his mind set on leaving tonight," stated Plano. "So I had to give him a little push and he responded nicely."
Firing out once given one left-handed/left-line shake, the gelding obtained the lead an eighth of a mile past the start, whereupon Plano slowed up the second eighth of the opening quarter, but Albion still paced the first quarter in :27.3. Did he use his gelding?
"I used him a little, but judging the field I didn't see a whole lot of backstretch moves, so I thought I could get a pretty solid breather to offset the first quarter."
Under a nice grip in a rated and easy second quarter, Albion reached the half-mile juncture, timed in :57.
"It was a successful breather -- exactly what I was looking for -- but it was still a tough group and I didn't think I was home yet."
With the field now racing on the final turn, Plano took a few looks back before urging his horse once midway through the final turn. Did he get a response and why did he ask?
"He responded, and in a race where there are such solid closers, plus with One And Only [and driver Jim Lackey], a very respectful horse on my back, I just didn't want to go too slow, or too fast which could serve it up for the guys in the back. So going a :28.4 third quarter was perfect and kept everybody at bay. At the three-quarters, I still thought I'd have enough pace to get home and win."
Getting a notch let out at the three-quarter mile marker, timed in 1:25.4, Plano gave his charge a wheel-disc urge to the head of the lane, just into it, and again at the seven-eighths mile pole, where One And Only was now on the move.
"I still thought my horse had a lot of pace left, but I was having flashbacks of the last time One And Only followed and beat me back on March 2, so I had some slight concerns."
With the field just a sixteenth of a mile from the finish, did Plano have more worries when One And Only started surging?
"I thought Lackey did a good job of drafting down the stretch and at the sixteenth-pole [15/16ths] he was coming pretty quickly, but when my horse really got a good look at him that's when he really dug in and was pacing full. As a result I thought I was going to hold and coming to the wire my horse fought him off."
Under a drive late and holding fairly safe, Albion scored ($2.80) by a long neck. Owned by Dan Tullio and James Mascola in partnership with trainer Matias Ruiz, the son of The Panderosa-Arcatraz-Artsplace stopped the timer in a seasonal best 1:52.2, which was, for a little over two hours, the fastest mile of the year at Cal Expo until Whipped Dreams (Jim Lackey) won in 1:52 six races later. One And Only was a nice second and Amigo De Garcia (Steve Wiseman) finished four and a half lengths farther back in third.
"It was an outstanding mile and the horse remains in tiptop shape," concluded Plano, who recorded six wins on the 15-race program.
(Cal Expo)