Flameon, Silverlode
rematched in featured Trot
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Flameon, fresh from winning
for the third time from his last four starts in the Keith Willey Memorial; and
Silverlode, who lost a heartbreaker to that rival, figure to get the majority
of the attention in Sunday night’s $6,600 Open Trot.
A 10-race program is on tap
with the action scheduled to get underway at 6:25 p.m. The main event occupies
the third-race slot on the evening.
Flameon is a 6-year-old
Canadian-bred son of Angus Hall out of the popular Valleymeister mare Benn’s
Fire. She races for her breeder Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham
barn and will once again be guided by Chip Lackey.
The gelding score his richest
win of the meeting when he made every pole a winning in the $10,000 Stan
Bergstein Trot on March 13, gliding over the sloppy track that evening. He was
fourth in his next try after making a miscue while doing his work from the
assigned No. 10 post, then was a handy winner the following week on firm
footing.
It was another sloppy track
last week when Flameon suited up for the Keith Willey Memorial. He was parked
to the lead by the quarter, showed the way to the stretch with a clear
advantage and had enough left to hold safe by a nose over Silverlode.
The latter is a 7-year-old
daughter of British Sterling out of the excellent producer Charlotte’s Web who
races for breeders Desomer Stables and will have Steve Desomer at the controls.
Silverlode comes into this
race with $129,000 in earnings and a 1:56 3/5 mark that was established her two
weeks ago when she took the measure of an Open III field in handy fashion. She
turned in another big mile to come with a nose of upsetting Flameon in the
Keith Willey with Steve Wiseman guiding.
Reduced takeout wagers
spotlight real value
Value players should pay
special attention to the Pick 5 and the Pick 4 here at Cal Expo, both offering
a reduced 16 percent takeout rate.
The Pick 5 is a 50-cent wager
conducted on the first five races on the card, while the Pick 4 is a 20-cent
bet that includes the final four contests on the evening.
Last Saturday night’s Pick 5
is a great example. While the sequence featured a $2.20 winner in Flameon in
the Keith Willey Memorial and Cadet at $5, it returned an eye-catching $8,886
for each 50-cent investment thanks to wins by Double L Fab ($34), Onesportonly
($38) and Hotel Motel ($19).
Using the regular takeout
rate, the Pick 5 would have returned $7,934, which is a difference of a cool
$952 in each winning player’s pocket.
James Kennedy, who earned
victory No. 1,000 in his career earlier this month, guided Double L Fab to his
upset, while brother Mark did the honors behind Onesportonly and Cadet over the
sloppy track.
Mark Kennedy added another
picture for the hat trick when he scored a come-from-behind win in the nitecap
for her owner/breeder Cindy Tupper and trainer Lester Smith.
