By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
The Robert Farrington Memorial Race for trotters and the finales
of the Annette Funicello and Bill Conlin pacing series headline the Saturday
night Watch and Wager LLC program at Cal Expo.
A 14-race card is on tap with a first post of 5:40 p.m. Racing
will be conducted on Saturday nights in October, expanding to Saturday and
Sunday programs in November. Plans then call for a three-night-a-week schedule
beginning on December 26 with Friday racing added to the mix.
The Farrington
Memorial is named for one of harness racing's first superstar trainer/drivers.
Robert “Bob” Farrington, 85, passed away on Monday from an apparent heart
attack. Mr. Farrington trained and drove one of the sport’s most popular horses
of all time, the fabled pacer Rambling Willie.
Razzle Be Dazzled figures to be a solid favorite in the Annette
Funicello finale for owner John Rogers, trainer Steve Wiseman and driver James
Kennedy. The 4-year-old daughter of Voracious Hanover is looking for her eighth
victory on the year from 18 trips to the post.
Razzle Be Dazzled romped home by six and a half-lengths in a
division of the opening leg of this event two weeks ago, then proved a punctual
odds-on choice last week while prevailing by a neck over High Bet Hanover while
lowering her lifetime standard to 1:54 1/5 in the process.
The Wiseman/Kennedy team also looms large in the Conlin finale
with Rich Native going postward for owners Mark Benvenga and Kathy Plested. The
8-year-old Allamerican Native gelding was runner-up in a division of the first
leg and then posted a $41.80 upset last week while getting the job done from
the demanding No. 10 post that evening.
There is also an excellent $6,000 Open Trot going as the third
event on the card. The returning Franks Best and El Azteca will be squaring off
against last week’s Open II victress Silverlode, Sharpshootennorris, I Love New
York and Silence Son in that affair.
Silverlode relaxing, saving best for
last
They don’t get much more
dramatic than last week’s Kent Fox Memorial for the trotting set with just a
neck separating the first four finishers.
When all was said and done,
it was Steve and Vickie Desomer posing for pictures with their 5-year-old
homebred mare Silverlode. She continues to work her way toward the $100,000
earnings mark while lowering her lifetime mark to 1:57 1/5 in that most recent
tour.
When last seen here during
the spring meet, Silverlode was doing her work on the front end, but her two
starts at this meet have seen the mare coming from off the pace with her
veteran pilot Steve Desomer playing it very cool. By the way, that was victory
No. 2,619 for the California mainstay, who has over $10.9 million in
earnings.
“Silverlode has always been
better racing from off the pace but has been somewhat lacking in
manners,” Vickie explained. “Maybe the long turnout or just maturity has
settled her down.
“Whatever accounts for the
change, we like it. Silverlode spent her vacation turned out with the rest
of the barn and being a loner, she spent most of her time well away from the
others.”
For a mare who prefers to be
a loner, she was certainly in a crowd last weekend when they reached the wire
in the Fox Memorial.
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A reminder that there are three
wagers offered here each night that come with a reduced 14 percent takeout
rate. They are the 50-cent Pick 5; the 20-cent Pick 4 (with a
$20,000-guaranteed gross pool); and the 10-cent Hi-Five in the nightcap. Last
Saturday, the Hi-Five returned a juicy $4,130 with Rich Native’s upset in the
Bill Conlin series igniting the payoff.
