Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
A Pick 4 carryover of $20,090
with a $75,000-guaranteed pool; a $5,685 Pick 5 carryover and a very
contentious Open Pace are among the main attractions on Saturday night’s program
at Cal Expo.
A 14-race is scheduled
Saturday under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post set for 6:10 p.m.
The $6,600 Open Pace will go as the eighth event on the card with a field of
nine facing the starter.
The Pick 4 is a 20-cent
base wager with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate and is decided on races 10
through 13 on the evening, while the Pick 5 also features the reduced 16
percent takeout and is a 50-cent base wager that is conducted on the first five
races.
Taking a look at the featured
Open Pace, Just Bettor will be looking to make amends after doing all the heavy
lifting last week before being overtaken by Walker Meister.Walker Meister has
the No. 7 post this time around, while Just Bettor leaves from the 8 slot and
I’m An Athlete will do his work from the outside post.
Just Bettor is a 6-year-old
son of Bettor’s Delight who races for A Piece of the Action LLC with Gene
Vallandingham the conditioner and Mooney Svendsen once again handling the
lines.
A lifetime earner of $266,000
with a 1:50 3/5 mark, he took the measure of a conditioned field on opening
week, then carved out the fractions last time but was unable to hold off the
pocket-sitting Walker Meister that evening. The latter is owned by trainer
George Reider and Dave, Kim and Rob Haness and will be guided again by Chip
Lackey.
******
Beginning on Friday, November
11, the trotters and pacers will in action here on Friday and Saturday nights.
Reider barn proving
very photogenic
George Reider’s barn is
loading for bear here at Cal Expo, and he gave a preview of coming attractions
with a hat trick on last Saturday night’s second card of the meeting.
Reider kicked off the triple
with the 2-year-old pacer Bo Master, who was a runner-up on opening week here
and came back with a solid first-over victory last weekend with veteran Chip
Lackey at the controls. He carries the banner of Little Bapa LLC.
“I bought this horse this
summer from Nick Roland, because I saw a lot of potential in him. He’s one of
the nicest looking horses in the barn confirmation-wise and he’s just figuring
out how to race,” the trainer related.
The barn’s next winner was
Walker Meister, who captured the co-featured pace with Lackey in the sulky. The
4-year-old races for Reider and Dave, Kim and Rob Haness and prevailed over
favored Just Bettor after working out a perfect two-hole trip. “I bought him
last year in Minnesota and he’s finally maturing into the horse I thought he
would be,” Reider noted.
V Mack completed last week’s
three-bagger and also races for the Reider/Haness combination and had David
Siegel handling the lines. The pacer went coast-to-coast while rewarding the
chalkplayers at even-money.
“This was another Minnesota
purchase for us, and I liked him so much, this year I bought his brother Holla
At Ur Boy, who has two thirds so far at the meeting,” the conditioner said.
“I have a lot of great
owners, and that really helps,” Reider added. “I’m also looking forward to
racing some nice young horses, including some for Rick and Marlene Thomas.”
