Vicky wins with class drop

She had been facing and racing just fine against invitational caliber horses, so it was no surprise with a one-level class drop that Vicky Marshall was strong in a 1:56.2 victory Thursday night at Cal Expo. Also Thursday night, the 11th race featured one of Cal-Expo's largest show prices, to the misfortune of a bridge-jumper who contributed greatly to the $4,509 to show out of $5,057 in the show pool wagered on Big Yawn, who finished fifth.

Starting from post-position two in the field of six, driver-trainer Bruce Clarke had a pretty good plan going into the race, but things didn't start out as expected for Vicky Marshall.

"I know Benn's Fire (Lemoyne Svendsen) pretty good and was going to follow her out," said Clarke. "But I looked to the inside of me and she wasn't leaving and Armbro Scribe (Rich Wojcio) was--so I figured I'd jump out and sit on his back."

Yielding the lead midway through the first-turn, the decision to sit on Amrbro Scribe's back changed to the quarter-mile pole, timed in :29.3, when Clarke pulled Vicky Marshall from the pocket. "We were walking pretty good--so I decided to retake," he said.

Obtaining the lead past the five-sixteenths, Clarke slowed down the pace and concedes he was willing to give up the lead he had two-moved to get. "I wasn't really trying to shut it down any, but I did take hold of her a little bit when I made the front figuring that if I'm Dam Good (Ed Hensley) was going to come--I was going to let him go by, but I'm Dam Goog never came."

Reaching the half-mile pole in :59.1, Clarke had high expectations. "She felt pretty strong going to the half-mile pole. I thought, when I saw the half-mile time was :59.1, that if she can't win from here--there's something wrong."

With the moderate first-half mile in the books, Clarke felt it was time to pick up the pace, and for good reason. "As soon as I headed into the last turn, I was going to try and open up some ground on them so they couldn't catch me after that. Approaching the three-quarter mile pole, I got after her a little as I was just trying to keep her busy and keep her mind on her job. At mid-stretch, I thought she was home free."

The only other mare in the race, Benn's Fire, finished second while Armbro Scribe took third.

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