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.
***
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.
