Boo Coo Blush won't be denied at Cal-Expo

Some issues came up in the final quarter mile, but that wouldn't prevent Boo Coo Blush from earning a nice victory.

Coming away in last from post five in the field of eight for driver Lemoyne Svendsen, the pair would find themselves down 11 1/2-lengths at the quarter-mile pole, timed in :29.2.

Having to go around a breaker to the three-eighths mile pole, then left without cover to the 7/16 mile marker, Boo Coo Blush would start to move up nicely with less than 9/16 of a mile to go into a first half-mile, timed in 1:01.

"I was just going to ease her up there and get her in striking position, but then when I got cover from Tequila Top (Jim Lackey) past the half, I liked my chances because I had followed Tequila Top in the past and had won with Boo Coo Blush before."

Up to fifth by five at the half-mile pole, and now getting advancing cover as the field headed toward the final-turn, that cover would stall midway through the final-turn, thus forcing Boo Coo Blush to move three-wide to the three-quarter mile station, timed in 1:31.

"She flipped three-wide real well and I liked that, but when I went to get around Tequila Top, my mare slipped and I almost lost her as we straightened out. I, however, grabbed her up and she got back to trotting smoothly and showed me heart and dug in."

Brushing into the lead with less than 3/16 of a mile to go, Svendsen would urge his charge at the seven-eighths mile marker, but that turned out to be a bad idea, especially with British Spirit (Rocky Stidham) coming on.

"I hit her once to see if she'd go on and she didn't, and that was a little concerning. So I just pushed her tail down the rest of the way with the exception of one tap at the wire, she’d show a little fortitude and held British Spirit off."

Owned by David Neumeister in partnership with trainer Bob Johnson, Boo Coo Blush would win ($6.20) by a neck, in 2:00.4. British Spirit tried hard in the lane while having to settle for second, and Scarlet O'Hio (James Kennedy) was just up for third, another three-lengths farther back.

"It was a very good mile because she put her head down and fought her way to a win," finished Svendsen.

On the Thursday night card, driver James Kennedy had four driving wins while trainer Tom Wine II conditioned three winners, thus giving him 10 training wins over the last four cards. Additionally, driver Ed Hensley had a driving triple, thus giving him 3,988 career driving scores.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Friday (June 13) at 6:30 p.m. (PDT), and on Saturday (June 14) at 6:20 p.m. On Friday, Cal-Expo offers Happy Hour between 6:00-8:00 p.m., where $1 Beer, $2 Wine & $3 Buffalo Wings an order is offered.(Cal-Expo)

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