PICK 5 CARRYOVER, GUARANTEED
POOLS, REDUCED
TAKEOUT SPICE THE FRIDAY NIGHT ACTION
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
There were
no winning tickets last Saturday evening in the Pick 5, the result being an
$8,533 carryover into Friday’s Pick 5, which will now feature a
$40,000-guaranteed gross pool and offers a reduced 16 percent takeout rate.
The Pick 5,
which is conducted nightly on the third through seventh races, is one of three
wagers here at Cal Expo with the reduced 16 percent takeout. The others are the
$1 Pick 4, which covers the penultimate four events on the card; and the
10-cent High 5 on the nightcap that challenges players to predict the first
five finishers across the line.
The Pick 4,
Pick 5 and High 5 each feature 100 percent carryover provisions in the event
there are no winning tickets, and the Pick 4 sports a $20,000-guaranteed pool
on Friday and a $25,000 guarantee on Saturday.
The average
payout for the 50-cent Pick 5 this season has been $2,800, so it’s certainly
been worth the effort. Jump right in, the water in this pool is fine.
STALEY SERIES FINALE, SIRE STAKES TOP BILL
The $10,950
Richard Staley Trotting series final and a pair of $10,000 California Sire
Stakes for 3-year-olds have the spotlight Friday night at the Watch and Wager
LLC meet at Cal Expo.
Opening Staley
leg winners Dreaming Of Amy and Twice The Ruckus clash in that event, while
Show Runner and Strings top the cast for the distaff pacing stakes and It’s Not
Over gets the marquee treatment in the trotting stakes that combines fillies
and colts. The Sire Sakes will go as non-betting events prior to the regular
program.
Dreaming Of Amy
is a 6-year-old Illinois-bred daughter of Banderas Hall who carries the banner
of Kc C Carvalho with Tim Brown the conditioner and Luke Plano in his usual
spot in the sulky. She comes into this assignment having won four of her six
appearances on the year.
The bay mare
was claimed from her January 15 victory, then finished second in a dead-heat in
the first leg of the Staley. Sent off the narrow 6-5 choice in last week’s
get-together, Plano sat a stalking trip for a half. Out first-over at that
point, Dreaming Of Amy made the lead into the stretch and showed the way home
by a head over a fast-closing Chiselled.
The latter is
an 8-year-old from the Frank Petrelli barn who has been second in both legs.
Racing for Owen Eiler Jr. with Mooney Svendsen in the bike, he came home in :27
and change last week and comes into this assignment in sharp form.
Twice The
Ruckus was a game winner of the opening leg and then finished a close third in
the penultimate leg. Denise Maier owns, Tim Maier trains and James Kennedy will
again be in the sulky. The 9-year-old son of Ilooklikemymom should be right in
the thick of things from the outset.
Completing the
field are the George Reider-trained Bobby Baccala, who is co-owned by his
conditioner and Dave and Rob Haness with Chip Lackey guiding; Loose Cannon for
owner Robert Bacon, trainer Bob Johnson and driver Steve Wiseman; and Earls
Dreamofglory, who is co-owned by his pilot Dave Siegel, his trainer Bernie
Wolin, Bob Thronson and Greg Robinson.
Looking at the
two stakes races, It’s Not Over will have Mooney Svendsen guiding in the
trotting event and will be challenged by Freedombird (Steve Wiseman), Jewel Of
Lodi (Pierre Girard), Lightning Of Lodi (James Kennedy) and Panama Joe (Tim
Maier). In the pacing affair, Show Runner (Tim Maier) and Strings (Mooney
Svendsen) face off against Blue Gem (Harold Herrera), Dancing Fool and Babe
Ridge (Scott Cisco).
