By Mark Ratzky, publicity- Cal Expo Harness
Friday’s
Watch and Wager LLC card at Cal Expo features some great opportunities for the
players, including an $8,275 carryover with a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool in
the 10-cent Hi Five. There is a reduced 16 percent takeout rate on that wager,
the 50-cent Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4.
The
Hi-Five is conducted on the 14th race finale with that guaranteed
pool; the Pick 5 starts with the third race and the Pick 4 is made up of the
last four races on the evening. First post for the 14-race card is 5:45
p.m.
Last
Saturday’s Hi-Five saw Only In Lodi going coast-to-coast at 39-1 with Chip
Lackey in the sulky and that trotter was followed home closely by the 27-1
Winsome Kelly with Pierre Girard, who also trained the winner. Rounding out the
pentefecta were the 3-5 Cherry Tree Nicole, Hi Tech Tony and Hillcrest Romeo,
with that combination resulting in no winning tickets and the $8,275 carryover.
To
get a better idea just how much that reduced 16 percent takeout rate means in
terms of dollars, the three payoffs on last Friday night’s program provide an
excellent illustration. The Pick 5 paid a whopping $5,973; the Pick 4 clocked
in at $1,954 and the Hi-Five returned $1,422.
Using
normal takeout rates, the Pick 5 would have dropped to $5,332 for a difference
of $641 to each winner; the Pick 4 would
have paid $1,744, meaning each ticket would have been worth $210 less; and the
Hi-Five last Friday would have come in at $1,269, a difference of $153 for each
winning combination.
********
Racing lost a great racemare
and producer with the passing of Ms Avondale this week. A hard knocking
invitational mare by Beach Towel out of the New Zealand mare Kiwi River N, Ms.
Avondale took a mark of 1:52 1/5 at this track, shattering the course record
for sophomore pacing fillies with a standard that still stands today.
Retired to the breeding shed,
Ms Avondale proved her value as a broodmare, producing such top performers as
California Dream (1.51 4/5, $160,108); Jersey Dream (1:52, $110,427) and Dream
of New York (1:52.2/5, $61,199). California Dream also broke the track record
over this layout at 3, and he and Ms Avondale are the only mother-son
combination to currently hold track records at Cal Expo.
Joe Lighthill finale, Sire Stakes on tap
The
$10,800 finale of the Joe Lighthill Trotting series finds likely favorite
Silverlode squaring off against last week’s upset winner Hooray Katie and the
solid Tim Maier-trained pair of High Dollar and Portfolio; while Show Runner
and Strings head the cast for the $10,000 California Sire Stakes for the
3-year-old pacing fillies Friday night at Cal Expo.
The
14-race program also features a $4,500 Open Distaff Pace and Haggin Oaks will
be looking to get back on the winning track in that affair after having her
winning streak snapped last week while doing her work from the demanding No. 10
post position.
Looking
at the Lighthill final, Silverlode is a 4-year-old homebred daughter of British
Sterling and the Website mare Charlotte’s Web who carries the banner of Desomer
Stables Inc with Vickie Desomer the conditioner and Steve Desomer at the
controls. She comes into this assignment having posed following three of her 10
appearances on the year with another three runner-up finishes.
The bay miss was a romping seven-length winner of her
division of the opening leg, with the 1:58 final clocking establishing a new
mark. Silverlode had to work quite a bit harder to get the job done in last
week’s penultimate Lighthill leg, making every pole a winning one while holding
safe by a half-length over High Dollar.
The
latter trotter will give the Tim Maier barn two big looks at the outcome. High
Dollar has narrowly missed in the first two legs and will have the services of
her trainer, while Portfolio was just nailed on the money last week by Hooray
Katie in his division and Daniel Maier will be in the sulky.
Hooray
Katie is 4-year-old daughter of Chip Chip Hooray who races for William
Neumeister, takes her lessons from Bob Johnson and will once again be guided by
Mooney Svendsen. She came rolling late to be up time over Portfolio last week
at 13-1 while earning her first victory of the year.
Show
Runner is looking to add another trophy to her mantle in the Sire Stakes. The
daughter of Little Steven races for Denise Maier and Eileen Brodbar with Tim
Maier reining and training and she is fresh from a powerful victory in last
week’s Distaff Open. She has $80,000 in the bank and a 1:52 3/5 mark that was
set at Running Aces in August.
