Sunday card brings down
curtain on meeting
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Two $10,000 California Sires
highlight the closing-night program of the winter/spring meeting here at Cal
Expo, with Uringoodhands and Hi Ho Houdini among the major players in the
4-year-old male pacing event, while My Little Susie and Kissed The Boys have
top billing in the sophomore trotting contest.
Nine races are on tap under
the Watch and Wager LLC banner, with the trotting stakes going as the third on
the program, while the pacing stakes will be decided as non-betting race prior
to the program.
"Clearly,
the highlight of our meet was a pair of 10 percent purse increases,” said Cal
Expo General Manager Chris Schick. “We made great progress this season and our
purse pool will end up in very good shape.
“The
strong dollar has created considerable interest for this
upcoming Fall meet from our friends north of the border, and the new
horse incentive plan is done. We are very bullish on the future of
California Harness Racing.
“We
truly thank our loyal fans and a great group of horseman for their
continued support."
Looking at Sunday’s pacing
stakes, Hi Ho Houdini is a son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s out of the Park Place mare
Holls Park Place who races for Lujuanna Lopez, is conditioned by Gordie Graham
and will once again be handled by Luke Plano.
Hi Ho Houdini has a victory
in the Marvin Sharpiro and three Sire Stakes decisions to his credit this
season, with his most recent big-money score coming in the March 6 gathering
for this group where he romped home by two and three-quarter lengths after
doing the track-and-attack for Plano.
Uringoodhands is the richest
member of the cast and will be looking to add another trophy to this case for
owner/breeder Mark Anderson and trainer Gordie Graham. James Kennedy will
handle the lines.
The dark-hued performer
picked up his most recent Sire Stakes score on April 3, when he lost a nose
photo after carving out all the fractions, but was placed first through
disqualification.
Completing the field are Lodi
Machette Man, who crossed the line first in that aforementioned event but was
set back to third by the stewards, with Mike Jarvis at the controls; and Hi
Ho’s Little Rev with Steve Wiseman.
Looking at the sophomore
trotting stakes, My Little Susie and Kissed The Boys get one more chance to
settle the score after being separated by only a head in last week’s clash at
the head of the class.
My Little Susie comes into
Sunday’s assignment having captured six of the seven Sire Stakes for the
division, while Kissed The Boys was victorious in the other. Last week saw
Kissed The Boys holding a clear lead to deep stretch, only to be nailed by My
Little Susie on the money.
The latter is a daughter of
Claudius Augustus out of Sue’s Photo who goes about her business for A Piece Of
The Action LLC with Gene Vallandingham the conditioner and Chip Lackey guiding.
Overall, she has had snapshots following 10 of her 20 lifetime appearances.
Kissed The Boys is also by
Claudius Augustus out of Charlette’s Web and is owned and was bred by The
Desomer Stables with Steve Desomer at the controls. Rounding out the cast are
CW Raisinette (Steve Wiseman), Lodi Bank Robber (Luke Plano) and Delta
Breezeoflodi (Pierre Girard).
This being closing night,
there will be mandatory payouts in all wagers, including the 50-cent Pick 5,
which along with the 20-cent Pick 4 comes with a reduced 16% takeout rate.
****
Thank you to the fans and
horsemen for supporting our meeting. Harness racing is scheduled to return to
Cal Expo in October.
