A hard-knocking field of nine will face starter Bill Vallandingham and Giles L S Hanover figures to have his share of pari-mutuel support. The 6-year-old son of S J’s Photo is owned by Marty Garey and Bob Johnson and hails from the Johnson barn. He is looking for his sixth win on the year from 36 trips to the post.
The bay performer has made three of his last four starts at the tougher Winners-over level, including last week’s outing where he had to settle for a distant runner-up finish behind his razor-sharp barn-mate Franks Best. Two back at this rung, he was the 2-1 choice and made a big move in the stretch but could not quite follow through and checked in third, beaten just a half-length that evening.
Cherry Tree Nicole is looking to make amends after going off stride early as the even-money favorite at this level last week. Alan Kirschenbaum owns, Denise Maier trains and Steve Wiseman guides the son of British Sterling, who turned in two big efforts prior to the last miscue.
Cobina is coming off a 7-1 upset with this kind and should be tough right back. The mare is conditioned by Amanda Fraser for Sling & A Stone Stable with Scott Cisco once again doing the honors. In last week’s mile, she carved out all the fractions and then had enough left to hold safe by a neck over Meringue, who will again be among her rivals. She will go from the rail to the No. 5 slot for this assignment.
Meringue is the richest member of the cast with his $196,000 bank account and sports a 1:55.2 mark from two years ago. The son of Jonathan Lobell carries the banner of Dawn Evango with Kennedy Lindsey doing the training. He went a big first-over mile last time with Luke Plano at the helm.
Dudis Angel was right there in third that night and helps make things interesting. He will give trainer Johnson two shots at the outcome and also got a nice draw as he leaves just outside stable-mate Giles L S Hanover in the No. 2 post. Dreaming Of Amy, Twice The Ruckus, Alpine Hawk and D Man complete the line-up.
Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (December 8) at 5:30 p.m. (PST) and continues on Friday (December 9) & Saturday (December 10) at 6:00 p.m. On Thursday and every live card, Cal Expo offers free admission, as well as free preferred & general parking after 4:30 p.m. Also on Thursday night from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Cal Expo offers a complete Lasagna dinner, which includes salad and bread, for just $3.00. Additionally on Thursday, beer & wine can be purchased for $3.00 each as well.
Cal Expo now offers a reduced 15 percent takeout rate on all Pick 4’s (Thursday/Friday nights in partnership with the USTA Strategic Wagering Committee). In addition, all Late Pick 4’s will come with a $10,000-guaranteed pool. On Saturday nights, there will be a 0% takeout on successful Late Pick 4 tickets made at Cal Expo or at Twinspires.com.
