The five-year-old pacer Sherwood has only made 15 starts, but he’s already had six trips to the winner’s circle and many more appear to be in his future.
Carrying the banner of Mark Anderson, taking his lessons from Gordie Graham and under the direction of Mooney Svendsen, he actually made 10 cents on the dollar look like an overlay last Sunday (April 4) at Cal Expo as he romped home by nearly four lengths over a conditioned crew.
“It was as easy as it looked,” Svendsen related regarding Sherwood after the score. “You know, he actually went a monster race the week before, considering he’d been away for almost three months.
“He was awesome last summer at Running Aces, but I believe he had some foot problems. Now he’s fine and this is a very nice horse. I expect him to start climbing the ladder.”
Rockinscience heads Cal Expo main event
Rockinscience, who closed with a rush for an exacta completion at this level last week, gets the top billing in Sunday night’s $5,000 pacing main event.
Watch and Wager LLC will present 11 races with the headliner going as the sixth event on the evening. First post is 5:25 p.m.
Rockinscience is a four-year-old son of Rockin Image out of the Somebeachsomewhere mare Secluded Beach who is owned by Nikki Hudson and Dave Haness and is reined and trained by Luke Plano.
The hard-knocking gelding has returned to the charmed enclosure following five of his 13 starts this season, with the most recent score coming on February 27 when he proved a punctual 7-5 favourite with a coast-to-coast tour of this layout.
In last week’s assignment, Rockinscience found himself last of the quintet to the stretch, put in a nice late move but had to settle for a second-place finish Royale Big Guy in that affair.
Any of the other five rivals have the credentials to get the job done, with Buddys Hope sporting some nice lines at this stand for trainer Nathalie Tremblay with Jake Cutting in the sulky.
Rounding out the line-up, from the rail out, are Bettors Promise, Queenace Blue Chip, Ridonkuloso and Prodigal.
A reminder there are three wagers offered here each night that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the 20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4, with the latter sporting a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool.
Things are even-steven among the three-year-old Sire Stakes fillies after Rockin The Dragon turned the tables on heavily-favoured Doubleontherocks in last week’s clash at the head of the class.
These two talented performers have been taking turns collecting trophies with two each on their respective mantles, and the rubber match will come on closing weekend April 24 when they get one more chance at the big money.
Interestingly, the favourite has yet to prevail in these four stakes match-ups. Rockin The Dragon has been 7-1 and 3-1 in her two tallies, while Doubleontherocks was the second choice in both her scores.
Our guess is their odds will be pretty close when they leave the gate for that fifth match-up in two weeks.
(Cal Expo)