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Saturday, February 25, 2012

CalX1 - Albion, Shelby County Sharing Saturday Spotlight At Cal Expo

Albion, fresh from flying home to record the fastest mile of the meeting last week with his 1:52.4 performance, attempts an encore in Saturday night’s (February 25) Winners-Over Pace while stable-mates Shelby County and Putoneonnetformom get top billing in the co-featured Winners-Over Trot.

A 6-year-old son of The Panderosa, Albion carries the banner of Dan Tullio, James Mascola and trainer Matias Ruiz and will try to keep his record perfect with the 20-year-old East Coast pilot Harry Landy on a return assignment.  A 10-time winner last season, he comes into this affair seeking his fourth snapshot from seven tries this year and sports a 1:51.1 career standard that was set at the Meadowlands.

Off at 9-2 for last week’s clash at the head of the pacing class, Albion sat last of the seven to the half.  He began to pick up momentum first over to the turn, engaged for the lead at mid-stretch and drew off late to prevail by three lengths while coming home in :26.3 that evening.

Shelby County, who returned to top form with a coast-to-coast decision at most recent asking with trainer Rocky Stidham in the sulky, faces his hard-hitting barn-mate in the co-headline Trot.

Shelby County is a 5-year-old homebred daughter of Chip Chip Hooray who carries the banner of Ben Kenney with Stidham doing the driving and training.  She comes into this assignment having posed for pictures following three of her five trips to the post this season.

After registering impressive tallies in her first two starts on the year, the chestnut mare made a break on a sloppy track and went evenly at next asking.  She got back to her winning ways last time, however, as Stidham sent her right to the top, she set the fractions without challenge and held safe by a neck over Franks Best while equaling her lifetime mark with the 1:57.15 final clocking.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (February 24) & Saturday (February 25) at 6:00 p.m. (PST).  On every live card, Cal Expo offers free parking & free admission after 4:30 p.m.   On Friday, Cal Expo offers Happy Hour from 4:00-7:00 p.m. on which Beer; Well Drinks & Wine are offered at $4 each, while a Burger with fries is offered at $5.

Cal Expo currently offers a reduced 15 percent takeout rate on all Pick 4’s (Friday nights in partnership with the USTA Strategic Wagering Committee).  Beginning February 24, all Late Pick 4’s will now come with an increased $15,000-guaranteed gross pool.  Also starting this weekend, the Friday Late Pick 4 will offer a 0% takeout on all winning wagers made on track or at Twinspires.com, while the Saturday Late Pick 4 will be broadcast on TVG.