His "mark" is 1:50 and on this night, Split Ticket reminded everyone why.
Closing night conditioned pacers, racing for a purse of $6,000, were featured at Cal Expo on a hot Saturday night (June 16), on which Split Ticket won for the 39th time in his career.
Before starting from post position one in the field of seven, driver Jim Lackey, who hadn't driven Split Ticket in quite a while, was advised why his charge had bounced in his last after showing signs of readiness in his previous mile.
"They said he had choked down last week, but I still had very little expectations going in to the race."
Leaving a bit until yielding into the first-turn to Tax Relief (Dave Siegel) and the up in class lead seeking Strikes N Charges (Darren Lupul), Split Ticket would come away in third into a speedy :27.1 opening quarter.
"I know Lupul tries to hold the front with that horse, but I figured after that type of quarter, combined with my horse feeling pretty good, that I'd take a shot at him and test him."
Flushed to the outside while uncovered past the 7/16ths mile marker, Lackey reveals he was going to pull anyway, and with good reason.
"I just wanted to get out and moving before Tax Relief did because I figured with my horse and the class he has, that he could overpower that horse on the lead. Once that occurred we'd see what would happen after that."
Moving pretty quickly and getting the lead easily at the 9/16ths mile station, was Lackey aware that the favourite was locked in?
"I didn't look back, but I knew it was a possibility that Tax Relief was locked in, and since my horse felt real good and you sometimes drive by feel, I just kind of let him set his own pace."
Opening up by two and a half lengths at the five-eighths mile pole, then getting his earplugs popped past the midway point of the final turn, the eight-year-old responded and was four lengths to the good and going strong at the three-quarter mile juncture, timed in 1:25.
"He felt strong too and sometimes horses with that back class know they've got two to three lengths on the horses coming from behind and they swell up and don't feel like they should be tired. I thought my chances were very good because he wasn't slowing down, he was marching."
Stepping out to a five length advantage at the head of the lane and expanding his lead with every stride while pouring it on, it was all over but the shouting.
"I didn't want him to go to sleep on his big lead, so I just kept him to his task by doing various little things to keep his attention and keep him alert. He was giant down the lane."
Owned by Richard Morita and David Yamada, the Liberio Pacheco-trained gelding romped ($12.20) home by six and three-quarter lengths in 1:52.1, establishing a seasonal mark. Haggin Oaks (James Kennedy) finished in second, and Tax Relief finished two and a half lengths farther back in third.
"You can see why he was a very good horse because he's got a big motor and covers a lot of ground. He was awesome," finished Lackey, who had three winners on the 12-race program.
The winning time was the second fastest mile of the winter-spring meet. The fastest mile of the meet was recorded by Whipped Dreams in 1:52, who Lackey also piloted.
Also on the closing night card, leading driver Luke Plano recorded six victories.
Live harness racing is scheduled to resume in the fall, early November is unofficially projected.
(Cal Expo)