LOS ALAMITOS : Plano Gives Mom an Early Present

Rick Plano gave his mom, Carmen Plano, her Mother’s Day gift a tad early this year. The 39-year-old harness driver guided Star Kingdom to victory in Saturday night’s 13th race for his 1,500th winning drive, five minutes before Mother’s Day.

The Plano family and friends, including Carmen of Frankford, N.Y., jammed the winner’s circle to the point where Star Kingdom, a 6-year-old gelding who had also won a race last Wednesday, was pushed to the back and was barely visible.

Plano won five races last week and moved up to ninth in the drivers’ standings with 31 victories in 292 starts. He is also the fifth-leading trainer of the current meeting, and has a stable of 38.

“Now, I’m just going to shoot for 2,000,” he said after accepting a $1,500 prize from track management for his total. “I’m glad to get it over with. It makes me feel older, that’s the only bad part.”

Plano won 13 races in April and early May and was obviously eager to reach the milestone. “It took me a while,” he said. “A lot of times it can be an omen. It took Jack Parker six weeks to get his 1,000th.”

Plano emerged on the California harness scene in 1983. Before then, he had driven and trained in Ohio at Northfield Park near Cleveland. Last year was his best in California. He won 127 races and earned a career-high $642,667. At the 1990 summer-fall meeting, he was the fifth-leading driver and was third in the trainer standings.

“I started a little slower (at this meeting),” he said. “I race (the horses) into shape, but hopefully they’ll last a little longer. It’s been working.”

Plano is considering leaving California after this meeting and shipping his stable to New York for the second half of the year.

Leading trainer Paul Blumenfeld and leading driver Joe Anderson teamed Saturday night and won the $20,000 New Beginnings Series final with Sherman, a New Zealand-bred 5-year-old gelding. The mutuel price of $24.60 was a surprise, since Anderson and Blumenfeld are popular with the fans.

“I was shocked he paid $20,” said Blumenfeld, who has 52 victories this meet, 14 more than second-placed Robert Gordon. “He did most of the work (in last week’s third leg of the New Beginnings Series) and only got beat two lengths by Test Of Wits.”

Sherman led wire-to-wire in 1:54 1/5, a new lifetime mark, leading nine other pacers. It was Sherman’s second victory in 10 starts this year for owners Murray Lawson of New Zealand and Elliott Gorov of Laguna Niguel.

Blumenfeld said Sherman had a virus in April and that he discovered how sick the horse was when a test showed a low blood count.

“He was hit real big with the virus and had a little throat infection,” he said. “I sold half to Elliott and everyone said to me he paid too much, but Elliott took my word.”

Blumenfeld did not disclose the purchase price, but did say he wasn’t surprised the horse had won, because Anderson had driven to a similar victory with Sherman last October in 1:55 4/5, the gelding’s previous best time.

Bag A Few and Exclusive Miss continued to dominate their competition last week, as each 3-year-old filly won a stakes race. Bag A Few won her ninth race in 11 starts this year in the $20,000 final of the Coming Out Series on Friday night.

She is owned by Chris and Sara Bardis of Sacramento and trained and driven by James Grundy, and beat older fillies and mares by two lengths in 1:56 4/5, a personal best.

Exclusive Miss scored her fifth consecutive victory in last Thursday’s $25,000 California Sires Stakes Final for 3-year-old trotting fillies. Driven by Steve Desomer, the Lowell Hanover filly has won three Sires Stakes finals since March 28 and was sent off as the stronger half of a 3-5 entry despite acting up in the post parade.

“She’s bad, bad, bad,” said Desomer, whose wife, Vickie, is the trainer. “It’s awful the way she post parades, but when you put her behind the gate, she’s fine. It’s amazing that she’s so consistent because she’s a rat. Her full-sister (the unraced 2-year-old Top Doll) I’ve got in the barn is a sweetheart, and this one’s a loony tune.”

Los Alamitos Notes

The Los Alamitos Racing Assn. has revised the number of Sunday matinee programs to five in June and July instead of the original six, pending final approval by the California Horse Racing Board. The Sundays are June 23 and 30 and July 7, 14 and 21. Post time will be 1:15 p.m. Racing will not be held on Tuesdays from June 25 through July 23, but will continue on Wednesday through Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. A doubleheader is scheduled for July 4 with a 12:45 p.m. first post and a fireworks display at 9:45 p.m. The meet concludes Saturday, July 27.

Quarter horse simulcasts from Bay Meadows in San Mateo, Calif., wil begin at Los Alamitos on Friday night. The 38-night quarter horse season runs through July 20 with a 7:25 p.m. first post. Racing will be conducted Wednesday through Saturday nights after the opening weekend. The quarter horse simulcasts will be shown in the Cypress Room on the second floor, but wagers on both harness races and quarter horse races may be made at any window.

The Orange County Racing Fair has announced the stakes schedule for the 18-night meet that runs from July 29 to Aug. 17. Twelve stakes will be offered, eight for thoroughbreds and four for quarter horses. The thoroughbred highlights include the $50,000-added Orange County Derby on Aug. 10 and the $50,000-added Orange County Handicap on Aug. 17. Racing will be conducted Monday through Saturday nights with first post at 7:30.