LOS ALAMITOS : Young Driver Has His Sights Set on Earning a Spot on the ‘A’ List

In the 30 seconds it took Mark P’Pool to guide Blues For Allah from a almost certain defeat to a nose victory in the Garden Grove Pacing Series on Friday, the 25-year-old driver might have earned the rookie-of-the-year title in California harness racing.

A Blues For Allah comeback appeared to be impossible on the backstretch. P’Pool had the filly at the rear of the 10-horse field with only a quarter-mile remaining. As they moved around the final turn, a hole opened in front of Blues For Allah, and by the time the field hit the stretch, P’Pool had a clear path to the leaders. Blues For Allah passed Nicols Doll in the last few yards to give P’Pool his biggest victory at Los Alamitos.

“I was a little nervous about (the race),” P’Pool said. “I didn’t get free until a quarter-mile from the finish. I was waiting on (Hutt Girl) to die, but she hung on longer than I thought. I had to pull seven-wide to get by them, but I got (Blues For Allah) loose. I thought I’d finish second, but she’s got a good motor for her size.”

P’Pool drove at Los Alamitos occasionally in 1992, and has also driven in Florida and Chicago. This year, he’s had more driving opportunities. He and his father, Merl, lease four horses who race at Los Alamitos. They spend most weekdays in Nipton, near the Nevada border, running a garage and towing business in nearby Baker. Their weekends are spent at Los Alamitos.

Last week, Mark P’Pool, his wife, Jan, and his father arrived at Los Alamitos before the races Thursday and stayed until Saturday morning. Thursday, they qualified Sleep N Sealed for this week’s final of the $8,000 Anaheim Pacing Series. Friday, in addition to winning with Blues For Allah, they were second with Rebel Lee in a conditioned race. Only Rust Never Sleeps, who has hit the board once in five starts at Los Alamitos, has been a disappointment during this meeting.

The farm is 200 miles from Los Alamitos, but P’Pool said his horses don’t mind the shipping.

“They love it,” P’Pool said. “I can’t separate them. We loaded Sleep N Sealed last last week and he was scared he was going to be left (behind). It’s comical because they go to yelling and screaming. They like it better (training at) the farm. In Chicago (last year), I raced at the track and then went to a farm, and they raced better from there.”

Blues For Allah, a 4-year-old mare, has been the stable’s star this year, winning two of six starts and earning $7,000.

During the week, P’Pool and his father alternately work at the garage, but frequently work together with the horses. The animals have been part of Mark’s life for almost two decades; his father was involved in harness racing, mainly in the Midwest but also on the California circuit in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

By the time P’Pool was in high school, he knew what he wanted to do. “If I wasn’t going to school, I was going to the barn,” he said. “I always wanted to be a driver.”

He spent several years working with his father, who trained several state-bred champions in Illinois. A few years ago, they sold the horses and bought the business, but now are considering a jump back into racing .

“I would like to be in racing full time,” P’Pool said. “I’m about 85% into it now. I’m hoping they get California (harness) racing full time. I’d like to race here permanently. In a state as big as this, I can’t believe they don’t have more harness racing.”

P’Pool is a provisional driver, which is harness racing’s version of the apprentice jockey. To graduate to an A license, which will give him full privileges, he needs two more drives to reach the required 25. So far this season, he has won four races and is ranked among the top 20 drivers at Los Alamitos.

“(Becoming an A driver) is kind of like getting your degree,” said Peter Tommila, one of three stewards presiding over the Los Alamitos harness meeting.

P’Pool will relocate to Chicago after this meeting, taking three horses from his current stable and several others that haven’t started yet this year. He also leases a farm in Ocala, Fla., that serves as a base when he races at Pompano Park, near Miami. Last March, P’Pool and his wife were staying in Ocala when a tornado ripped through the property, causing $60,000 in damage. The P’Pools were lucky; their horses escaped injury.

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Be Welcome and Maxanali won divisions of the Anaheim Pacing Series last Thursday and will square off in this Thursday’s $8,000 final.

Be Welcome has overcome a series of injuries that stopped his career three times. This year, the 5-year-old gelding has won four times in six starts. In Thursday’s elimination, Be Welcome, driven by D.R. Ackerman, took the lead at the start and won by 4 1/2 lengths, pacing the mile in 1:58 1/5. Be Welcome is owned by Richard Staley of Los Angeles, who paid $25,000 for him at a Kentucky yearling sale in 1990. Ackerman’s father, Doug, is the trainer.

At 2, Be Welcome was training for his first race when he was sidelined because of a broken splint bone. At 3, he suffered a broken right cannon bone, which needed two screws to heal. Last year, at 4, Be Welcome returned to training and won his only start, in March at Los Alamitos, before suffering a broken left cannon bone.

In December, Be Welcome re-entered training at Del Mar, then finished eighth in his first start on Jan. 8. Since then he has won four of five races, gradually improving each week. On Feb. 5, he paced a mile in a career-best time of 1:56 3/5.

“(The elimination) was a good race,” D.R. Ackerman said. “I thought I could handle them. He came off the (Feb. 5) race in good shape. He’s in another series (in March). We’ll keep racing him. There’s some late-closers at Hazel Park (in Michigan) that we might enter him in.”

Staley and the Ackermans also have Brilliant Colors, the top older pacing mare of the meeting, who won her third race in six starts in Friday’s invitational.