A trip he loves combined with the hot training of Bob Johnson led up to a sparkling opening night victory at Cal Expo for Ivegotwhatuneed
. Conditioned pacers, racing for a purse of $4,500, were featured at Cal Expo on Friday night (August 26), in which Ivegotwhatuneed was clearly fastest of all.
Prior to starting from post position two in the field of six, driver Rich Wojcio had strong reason to like his chances.
"I obviously felt good going into the race because Bob [Johnson] had horses he trained in five of the first six races and won them all," said Wojcio. "Off the strength of the qualifier by Got The Giggles [and Dave Siegel], I felt if I sat second to her that the worst I could be was second."
Leaving to attempt to secure position, Wojcio had to settle for the three-hole, but took it in pretty good stride.
"I would have liked to have had the two-hole, but they were going enough and sitting third behind Stanza [and Steve Wiseman] was probably just as good as sitting in the pocket because they went :27.4 in the quarter and he was very relaxed and very comfortable."
Remaining third at the half-mile juncture, timed in :57.1, Wojcio got his cue at the 9/16ths-mile marker when Siegel asked the only mare in the race to go on.
"When Siegel tapped his horse, I thought I better tap mine because off her big qualifier and how extremely fast she is, I didn't know if she was capable of going 1:52."
Tipping out at the three-quarter mile station, timed in a rapid 1:24.2, Wojcio knew the race was his for the taking.
"I was very happy about having the trip that I got off the fractions that they went because I know this horse has a heck of an eighth of a mile brush and I hadn't used it yet -- plus when I pulled he was loaded."
Charging up late in the final turn, the eight-year-old had his mo-jo working when he powered into the lead at the seven-eighths mile pole.
"He's an old classy horse that knew what he had to do. Once he went by, he knew his job and finished his mile while excellent through the stretch."
Opening up while under very minimal urging, the gelding won ($5) by over three lengths. Owned by Marty Garey in partnership with Johnson, Ivegotwhatuneed stopped the timer at 1:54.2, thus recording his 34th triumph. Western So (Scott Cisco) finished in second, and Arch Nemeses (James Kennedy) finished one-length farther back, in third.
"He raced very good," concluded Wojcio, who completed a driving double with this victory.
For the ageless Bob Johnson, who had an owning triple, the conditioning win gave him six wins in the six races his horses competed in, of which the last five came in consecutive fashion.
Also on the 10-race card, driver Steve Wiseman had a grand-slam, while Luke Plano had a piloting triple.
(Cal Expo)