Plano wins seven on the card

The ageless veteran put on a show on Thursday night (June 10) when he won the last seven races on the card.

Featured on the program were claiming distaffers, on which Stick Up repeated for the star of the night.

Leaving from post six in the field of the same number and racing three-wide for the first eighth of a mile into a :28 opening quarter, the eight year-old didn't clear the lead until the 5-16ths mile pole.  Did Plano think the lead was tough for his trainee?

"It was a tough lead for sure because a few left inside of me and they left pretty hard," stated Plano.

Grabbing a hold of his mare once on the front, the pair reached 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.  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’d be 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."

Owned by Maryann Plano in partnership with Nikki Hudson, Stick Up won ($2.80) by three-lengths.  Persuade Me (Jim Lackey) finished in second, and Wicked Beach (James Kennedy) finished another 1-1/4-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 of them.  By virtue of driving the last seven winners on the card, the 58 year-old has now won ten of the last thirteen races at Cal-Expo. (Cal-Expo)