Artless Takes On California Sire Stakes

Artless was bred by Desomer Stables, and with Steve Desomer as driver, and Vickie Desomer as trainer, the beautiful gelding has a very promising future in harness racing. However, a week ago, Desomer Stables had a terrifying scare, as the life and harness racing future of Artless was put in jeopardy, when his transportation vehicle ended up in an accident on their way back from Canada. Fortunately, even though Artless was juggled around during the accident, he only skinned up his legs and was still able to take part in the $15,000 California Sire Stakes on Saturday, 2 November 2008.

Driver, Steve Desomer was trying to fight off his nervousness before the race, commenting: "I was a little nervous going into the race because we got into an accident driving back from Canada last week. The horse had gotten thrown around and had skinned up his legs, but he trained good this week and I was a little more confident. Still, you never know when they get hurt how they might react." But by the time they reached the final stretch it became very clear that Desomer had nothing to worry about, as Artless performed beyond his expectations.

Cal-Expo was filled with anxious spectators as the horses for the California Sire Stakes got ready to race. The field of ten competitors took off, with Artless getting into second position at the beginning of the race. Glad To Be Back took the lead, but instead of chasing him down, Desomer decided to keep Artless at a steady pace, not using all his energy at the beginning of the race. When they reached the final turn, Artless began to gain on Glad To Be Back and caught him at the three-quarter mile pole. Desomer and Artless took the lead and never looked back. They crossed the finish line in first position, with Pacinello in second and Glad To Be Back in third.

Artless shrugged off his traumatic experience and performed brilliantly on Saturday. The fears of his owners and driver were laid to rest as Artless took on his fellow competitors with confidence and strength, leading to victory.