Ageless veteran Rick Plano put on a show Thursday, June 10 at Cal-Expo when he won the last seven races on the card
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Featured on the program were claiming distaffers, on which Stick Up repeated for the star of the night.
Leaving from Post 6, Plano and his charge raced three-wide for the first eighth of a mile into the opening quarter (:28). The eight year-old didn't clear the lead until the five-sixteenths-mile pole.
"It was a tough lead for sure because a few left inside of me and they left pretty hard," Plano explained.
Grabbing a hold of his mare once on the front, the pair clicked off the half-mile juncture, timed in :57.3, and the three-quarters, timed in 1:27.
"The :59 middle-half was a real good breather for me and it probably won it for me," Plano said. "There was, however, a pretty strong headwind going up the backside, so I couldn't tell if she actually got a breather in the second quarter because the wind was hitting me really hard and it felt like she was pacing pretty fast."
Chasing after his horse to the three-quarter mile marker, Plano got the response he wanted and there was no catching the duo.
"She got away from them when I asked her in the middle of the last-turn. Then paced pretty strongly down the lane with a :28.4 final quarter in a 1:55.4 mile, which is pretty good for these (that class of horse)."
Owned by Maryann Plano in partnership with Nikki Hudson, Stick Up won ($2.80) by three-lengths. Persuade Me (driven by Jim Lackey) finished in second, and Wicked Beach (James Kennedy) finished another one and a quarter lengths farther back, in third.
"She raced hard and put in a great effort to win it," finished Plano, who also trained four winners on the night, of which his wife Maryann owned three.
By virtue of driving the last seven winners on the card, the 58-year-old has now won 10 of the last 13 races at Cal-Expo.
Live racing continues at Cal-Expo on Friday, June 11 and on Saturday, June 12 at 6:20 p.m. (PDT).
(Cal-Expo)