Santa Rosa: Calkins Road wins $100,000 Grace Handicap

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Calkins Road ($8.80) reversed the outcome of the May 31 Grade 3 Seabiscuit Handicap at Bay Meadows when he rallied down the lane to defeat odds-on favorite Yougottawanna to win the $100,340 Joseph T. Grace Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair on Sunday.

He won the 1 1/16-mile race by three-quarters of a length in 1:41.29. Peteski's Charm was third nine lengths back with Surprise Halo, the second choice in the field, last.

Yougottawanna, the heavy 2-to-5 choice in a field of four, broke poorly but was still able to get a clear lead over Peteski's Charm on the first turn while Calkins Road was last.

"I had a lot of horse, but Jim (Hilling, the substitute trainer for John Shirreffs) told me he was kinda lazy," winning rider Chad Schvaneveldt said. "It was a big concern at the half-mile pole because we weren't going that fast, and I thought we had to get up a bit. I asked him at the 3/8ths, and he responded, but I didn't want to move too early."

Calkins Road followed Yougottawanna around the turn. Yougottawanna stayed close to the rail and cut the corner into the lane, and Schvaneveldt steered Calkins Road a bit wide.

"I wanted to be far enough from that horse that he couldn't see me because he's pretty game," Schvaneveldt said. "I got after my horse left-handed, and he gave me all he had. When I got to him, I knew I had him. My horse is a classy horse. You don't win a half million in Southern California for nothing."

Calkins Road, a 5-year-old Cal-bred horse, won for the fifth time in 16 starts and earned $55,085. The Thomas and Deborah Shapiro homebred has now earned $488,265.