Filly and mare claiming pacers were in the Cal-Expo spotlight on Thursday, May 27 over a track listed as 'good,' on which Persuade Me got back on the winning track to record her fifth win in her last six outings.
Leaving from Post 2 in the field of seven, and getting into the pocket before the field had traveled a sixteenth of a mile, driver Jim Lackey, with the pace slowing up, moved his charge to the outside approaching the quarter-mile pole, timed in :29.1.
Two-moving to the front to the three-eighths mile marker, but while able to pace a :31 second-quarter into a 1:00.1 first-half, Lackey continued to rate Persuade Me in the third-quarter until Ogs Si Bon (driven by Anthony Succarotte) attacked to the three-quarter mile station.
Reaching the three-quarters, timed in 1:30, Lackey, despite the pressure, never looked to his right.
"Off the 1:00.1 first-half, you know she'll have a good final half in her," Lackey stated. "When I heard Ogs Si Bon coming, I knew with my mare that I just had to press on the gas pedal and see what happened, especially since she's better in the straightaway. When she came off the turn and accelerated, that was a good sign, but I couldn't say I was a winner yet."
In full gear off the soft 1:00.4 middle-half, the four-year-old dug in under urging in the last eighth of a mile and refused to let a menacing Ogs Si Bon get past her throatlatch.
"She was doing as good as anybody there from the seven-eighths on and from that point I felt pretty good."
Owned by Cynthia Rios in partnership with trainer Bob Johnson, Persuade Me won ($3.20) by one length in 1:58. OGs Si Bon was a nice second, and Elegant Emma (Luke Plano) finished with pace in third.
"It was a real good effort and she does seem to like it when the track is a little off and tiring. She tries hard that mare and obviously based off her form has been doing a heck of a nice job lately," said Lackey, who, like trainer Bob Johnson, recorded four wins on the card.
Live racing continues at Cal-Expo on Friday, May 28 at 6:00 p.m. (PDT) and on Saturday, May 29 at 5:50 p.m.
(Cal-Expo)