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Friday, April 20, 2018

Lloyd Arnold Pace lures contentious cast



By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness

Saturday night’s $10,000 Lloyd Arnold Pace at Cal Expo has lured a solid cast of nine, with Allymx’sliventexas, Bettor’s Promise and I’m An Athlete among the major players.

The Arnold will go as the 7th event on an 11-race Watch and Wager LLC program that is set to get underway at 6:40 p.m. The co-feature is a $6,500 California Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old pacing fillies which occupies the 2nd-race slot.

Allymx’sliventexas is having a strong meet for his owner/breeders Wayne and Rod Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson and regular pilot Mooney Svendsen and will likely be favored in the main event.

The son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s has five wins from his 12 starts on the year, including a lifetime-best 1:50 4/5 performance on March 9, and recently went over the $100,000 earnings mark.

In last week’s Open, Allymx’sliventexas proved a very game winner as he was first-over into the pace-setting favorite Bettor’s Promise at the half, engaged that one in the stretch and prevailed by a nose while coming a :26 4/5 final quarter.

Bettor’s Promise is very sharp right now and will be gunning for some revenge after doing all the heavy lifting last week and ending up on the wrong end of that photo. He established his 1:50 3/5 mark in his previous outing at the Open II level and goes about his business for owners Richard Morita and David Yamda with Lino Pacheco conditioning and Steve Wiseman guiding.

Completing the field are Julerica, Pancella, Almost Cut My Hair, To The Limit, Eastender, I’m An Athlete and Lil Orphan Elmer.

Pacing fillies battle in co-featured Sire Stakes

In addition to the Lloyd Arnold Pace, Saturday’s card will find the sophomore pacing fillies in action in a $6,500 California Sire Stakes.

The added-money events for the 3-year-old pacing fillies have seen three different winners, with Brigitte Bordeaux taking the initial clash, followed by back-to-back trophy earners for Goturnumber and then Glad to Meet Ya taking bows after the most recent gathering two weeks ago.

Goturnumber will not be in the starting line-up, leaving Glad to Meet Ya as the probable favorite in the cast of five after her big win where she earned her initial stakes tally with a six and a half-length romp.

Brigitte Bordeaux will look to pull off an Arnold/Sire Stakes parlay for owner/breeders Wayne and Rod Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson and driver Mooney Svendsen, while Glad to Meet Ya is owned and was bred by Billie Schwartz and Junior Wilkinson with Wilkinson training and Luke Plano once again at the controls.

Looking for an upset this weekend are Lucky Seven Oflodi, who has the cozy rail post with Tony Succarotte; Holy O’Neill, to be guided by Tim Brown; and Rhythm, who will have William Hernandez giving directions.

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There are two wagers offered here each night that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the 50-cent Pick 5, which is decided on the first five races on the evening, and the 20-cent Pick 4.

The Pick 4 comes with a $50,000-guaranteed gross pool on Saturdays and a $30,000 guarantee on Fridays.