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PIO PICO MAY BE OVERLY TEMPTING
Pomona, Calif. (Sept. 11, 2008) - The ultra quick Overly Tempting is the 9-5 morning line favorite to win Friday's $65,000 Pico Pico Stakes at Fairplex Park, a 6 ½ furlong dash for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, which drew a field of eight.
Blessed with exceptional speed away from the gate, Overly Tempting, who is winless in 2007 after seven races, drew the rail and will have blinkers added after three races without them.
David Flores, Fairplex Park's all-time stakes winning jockey with 62 victories notched on his whip, will ride the 5-year-old daughter of In Excess for trainer Bruce Headley, who is making one of his infrequent appearances in Pomona.
Second in a division of the Daisycutter Handicap at five furlongs on turf at Del Mar earlier this month, Overly Tempting's race strategy is simply---catch me if you can. On more than one occasion Overly Tempting has been able to run a sub-22 second first quarter mile.
Kalookan Dancer, victorious in last year's Pio Pico Stakes, is back to defend her title. Her victory in 2007 was an amazing performance because she broke in the air to be behind her rivals by five lengths at the start, yet cruised to the lead passing the grandstand for the first time, and still won, beating Vaca City Flyer by three-quarters of a length.
Conditioned by trainer Walther Solis, Kalookan Dancer's most recent victory came in the Vacaville Handicap at the Solano Fair when she traveled six furlongs in a sparkling1:08 4/5.
Also entered in the Pio Pico are Aunt Pink, Hadl's Hey Day, Asian Eyes, Kalookan Year, Martita's Rose and Royal Kleven, the most accomplished mare in the race with 10 victories from 36 starts and earnings of $434,033.
$138,013 PICK SIX CARRYOVER TODAY
When jockey Alonso Quinonez guided Picassa to a stunning, come-from-behind $69.60 victory in Wednesday's final race, he sent the $2 pick six and $1 win pick nine into overtime.
For the second consecutive day no one was able to isolate all the winners in the pick six, so the carryover pool for this afternoon's 10-race program, which begins at 1 p.m., is $138,013.
No one has been able to tab all the winners in the win pick nine through the first five days of the Fairplex meet, and the carryover pool for that exotic wager stands at $21,956.
QUINONEZ HAS RIDING TRIPLE
On the strength of a three winner day on Wednesday Alonso Quinonez moved into second place in the Pomona jockey standings with seven victories. Martin Pedroza leads the jockey colony with 20 triumphs after five days of racing.
The 24-year-old Quinonez, who was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, scored with Flash Dancer ($11.20), Spellbinding ($12) and Picassa ($69.60).
Quinonez's three-bagger brought back memories of Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye. On each winning ride Quinonez was well off the early pace before launching his bid into the stretch.
Flash Dancer rallied from next to last to win, Spellbinding came from sixth place to score, while Picassa also was next to last in the early going before posting her upset.
Quinonez scored his biggest Fairplex victory in last year's $125,000 Ralph M. Hinds Pomona Invitational Handicap when he won with Plug Me In for trainer Marcelo Polanco.
FAIRWELLS : MARTIN PEDROZA was held to only one winner on Wednesday…Betting favorites have won 24 of 58 races for 41.38 percent…Stakes winner WHILLY worked a leisurely six furlongs Thursday morning over the Pomona oval in 1:15…DOUG O'NEILL, the leading trainer at Fairplex in 2007 with 12 winners, won his first race of the 2008 season on Wednesday when Filter ($4.40) scored in the tenth race for jockey MARTIN GARCIA. O'Neill was winless with his first eight starters…
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