Mysharona Bluechip
blazes the once-around
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
The fastest mile of the meet
belongs to Mysharona Bluechip, who made his Cal Expo debut a memorable one two
weeks ago when he covered the journey here in a sparkling l:51 4/5 with Tony
Succarotte in the sulky.
The 4-year-old pacing son of
Rock N Roll Heaven is owned by A Piece Of The Action LLC and trained by Gene
Vallandingham, and was coming in from the East where he had a 1:49 3/5 tour at
Pocono Downs earlier in the season.
“He had trained giant and I
expected that kind of mile from him,” Vallandingham related after the score.
“Before the race, I told Tony that he just might be the best horse he’d ever
sat behind, and he didn’t disappoint us.
“I can tell you one other
thing, there’s a lot more where that came from and it’s going to be a lot of
fun.”
Gene, who celebrated his 76th
birthday in September, is currently training 30 performers and while he has
over 3,500 victories in his career as a driver, he hasn’t seen evening action
in the sulky for over a year and a half.
“I broke my hand and had it
operated on, and it really hasn’t come back 100 percent,” Vallandingham
explained. “To be honest, the training has become a full-time job so I don’t
know if I’ll get back to driving as long as I have this many horses.”
Gene was asked if he gets
more nervous watching a race from the sidelines, as opposed to be being in the
bike. “I don’t get nervous,” he said without missing a beat. “If something
happens and the horse ends up in trouble, it could have just as easily happened
if I was driving.”
Mr. Pearl eyes encore
in featured pace
Mr. Pearl, who overcame the
No. 10 post to win at this level last week, heads the cast for Friday night’s
$4,200 pacing feature.
There will be 13 races
conducted under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post set for 6:10.
p.m. The headliner goes as the 10th race on the evening with a full
field set to face the starter.
Mr. Pearl is a 4-year-old son
of Always A Virgin who races for A Piece Of The Action LLC with Gene
Vallandingham training and James Kennedy once again handling the lines. He
closed from last to win by a head with this group last weekend and leaves from
the No. 7 slot for this assignment.
Prodigal checked in third
that night and has to be respected for owner Mark Anderson, trainer Gordie
Graham and pilot Mooney Svendsen. He was a 1:53 4/5 winner at Running Aces this
summer.
****
Both the 20-cent Pick 4 and
50-cent Pick 5 here at Cal Expo feature a reduced 16 percent takeout rate, and
looking at last Saturday night’s Pick 5 payout shows just how much value that
equals.
The winners of the Pick 5
that kicked off the program were 6-5, 5-1, 9-5, 17-1 and 5-1, respectively,
with each winning ticket returning a hefty $10,336 for the 50-cent investment.
Using the regular takeout
rate, the payoff would have been $9,229, a difference of a cool $1,007 for each
ticket holder. Now that’s value. The 50-cent Pick 5 will once again get the
card started here Friday evening, while the 20-cent Pick 4 is decided on the
penultimate four contests on the 13-race program.
