By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Cenalta Call Girl is in the
midst of a love affair with Cal Expo, having won five of her eight starts at
this track since arriving from Canada with Rene Goulet.
Goulet owns the 4-year-old
homebred filly along with Helen and Myrna Empey and she’ll be looking for her
third late-closer victory at the session in Saturday’s Marvin Shapiro Pace,
having already accounted for the Annette Funicello and Robert Staats finales.
The bay mare prefers to save
her best for last, and that was in evidence in her elimination heat last week
as she was double digits back in the early going, began to pick up momentum for
Goulet turning for home and was up by a half-length to prove a punctual
favorite in a lifetime-best 1:55 1/5 tour.
Rene returned to Cal Expo
from his native Canada in October along with his partner Glenda Smith after
having been away from Sacramento for some 18 years, and the performances of
Cenalta Call Girl have certainly been among the highlights at the meet.
“The people here are nice and
friendly,” he noted. “It’s also nice to get away from that cold and snow.”
While Goulet cut his teeth on
half-mile tracks in the Great White North, he has also done his share of
driving on five-eighths and mile tracks. “I actually prefer a mile track like
the one here at Cal Expo, because I like to let my horses sit and finish.”
Cenalta Call Girl has been
doing just that, and she’ll try to add another feature race to her resume this
weekend in the Shapiro.
Marvin Shapiro Pace
headlines program
The $9,300 Marvin Shapiro
Pace for fillies and mares holds center stage at Cal Expo Saturday evening,
with last weekend’s elimination winners Getter Queen Flush and Cenalta Call
Girl among the major players.
This race is named for Marvin
Shapiro, the son of L.K. Shapiro, who owned the Hall of Fame thoroughbred and
California-bred champion Native Diver. He was the president of Western Harness
Racing Inc. in the 1960s and spearheaded legislation that sanctioned night
racing in California. He died in 2003 at the age of 83.
Getter Queen Flush and
Cenalta Call Girl both got the job done last week with solid come-from-behind
scores while each going off at 8-5 odds with Nick Roland and Rene Goulet at the
controls, respectively.
Getter Queen Flush is a
6-year-old daughter of Jk Royal Flush who comes for the team of Reider,
Robinson, Thomas and Siegel with George Reider training and Nick Roland at the
helm.
Sent off the co-favorite in
last week’s second elimination heat, the long-fused distaffer was double digits
off the lead in the early stages, steadily made headway while parked on the
final end and then came a :27 3/5 final quarter to seal the deal by a neck over
another fast-finishing Window Wiper in a 1:54 2/5 mile.
Cenalta Call Girl is looking
to capture her third late-closing event at the meet, having previously
accounted for the Annette Funicello and Robert Staats finals. Rene Goulet reins
and trains this Canadian-bred miss and co-owns with Helen and Myrna Empey.
Completing the field are Hi
Fidelity, Window Wiper, Cenalta Diamond, Back Stock, Yeswellnomaybe, Lovers
Holiday, La Madawna De Rosa and Centalta Cougar.
