After a couple of tough trips, Marco Rios is looking for Grandpa Stevie to get a little lucky when he suits up for action Saturday night.
 
Rios conditions the 8-year-old son of Little Steven for Hei and Pamela Mitchell and Family Time Racing, and the veteran pacer comes into this weekend with $111,000 on his card and a 1:52.2 mark from two years ago.
 
Grandpa Stevie has clicked four times from his 21 trips to the post this season, settling for a fourth and a third-place finish from his last two attempts.  Traffic troubles cost him two back, while last week he did his work in first-over fashion and paid the price in the stretch.
 
“I’ve had this horse since last August, and he’s a real pleasure to train,” related Rios.  “He may be eight, but he acts like a 3-year-old.  As far as racing goes, he prefers to not be used and then come home strong.
 
“In that race two back, he got shuffled down on the inside midway and when he finally got free, it was too late.  It’s frustrating to watch them from the grandstand and to know they have pace and no room, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”
 
Last week, Grandpa Stevie was first-over at the half, put away the pace-setter into the stretch, but was unable to contain heavy favorite Satire and then lost the place in the late stages.
 
“I thought it was a game mile for him considering he was first-over with the favorite on his back,” Marco said.  “He’s always raced better when he’s the one doing the following.”
 
Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Thursday (June 3) and continues through Saturday (June 5).  Post-time on Thursday is at 5:55 p.m. (PDT) & on Friday (June 4) at 6:00 p.m.  Post-time on Saturday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.  On Thursday night, Cal-Expo offers a complete Lasagna dinner, which includes salad and bread, for just $3.00.