Jazzmanian Devil handicapped again at Cal Expo

Jazzmanian Devil is paying the price for his recent success, as he has been assigned the No. 10 post position for Sunday night's Open Pace.

William Condon's 5-year-old has reached the charmed enclosure following four of his last five appearances here, with the one setback being the time he was asked to leave from this handicapped post on Aril 3.

It should be noted, however, that it wasn't the outside slot that likely did him in that evening, but an equipment break. He has returned from that outing to rattle off a pair of impressive victories for trainer Steve Wiseman and regular driver Mooney Svendsen.

Meanwhile, Kissed The Boys is one member of the cast in Sunday's co-featured Sire Stakes who won't mind if the skies open up and rain comes down before this contest.

The Desomer Stables homebred has won both her starts on off tracks, including the March 13 Sire Stakes which found divisional leader My Little Susie having to settle for the exacta completion.

Kissed The Boys has had her main problems when the gate rolls, making miscues and being interfered with in two of her last three trips to the post. She made a huge brush to the lead in last week's stakes gathering, but could not match the favorite when push came to shove in the stretch.

"Once she gets away from there, she's pretty reliable," Steve noted. "She has a lot of tenacity, especially on an off track."

My Little Susie, Kissed The Boys clash

My Little Susie, who has earned five stakes trophies at the meet: and Kissed The Boys, who has one and was runner-up in the most recent big-money dance, have top billing in Sunday's $10,000 California Sire Stakes for 3-year-old trotters at Cal Expo.

Ten races are on tap Sunday with first post set for 6:25 and the Sire Stakes will be the third event on the evening. This is the penultimate week of the meeting, with the curtain coming down next Sunday, May 8.

My Little Susie is a daughter of Claudius Augustus out of Sue's Photo who campaigns for A Piece Of The Action LLC, is conditioned by Gene Vallandingham and will once again have the services of Chip Lackey.

Overall, she has posed for pictures following nine of her 19 lifetime appearances and she established her mark of 1:57 2/5 when winning a Sire Stakes here on February 28, one of five such added-money contests she has captured at this stand.

In last week's foray, she proved a punctual 3-5 favorite as she did the track-and-attack to perfection for Lackey, heading Kissed The Boys at midstretch and going on to a length and three-quarters decision while stopping the timer in 1:58 flat.

Kissed The Boys is also a daughter of Claudius Augustus from Charlotte's Web who is owned and was bred by The Desomer Stables and will have Steve Desomer giving directions.

Rounding out the field are Lodi Bank Robber with Luke Plano; Sixstringsandapick, Mooney Svendsen; CW Raisinette, Steve Wiseman; and Delta Breezeoflodi, Pierre Girard.

By Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harness