By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
To The Limit pulled off a $73
upset in last weekend’s Lloyd Arnold Pace at Cal Expo, and as result turned
what would have been a modest Pick 4 into a $1,289 return for each 20-cent
investment.
The Pick 4 is one of two
wagers offered here each night featuring a reduced 16 percent takeout rate, the
other being the 50-cent Pick 5 that covers the first five races on the card.
The Pick 4 comes with a
$30,000-guaranteed gross pool on Fridays and a $50,000 guarantee on Saturdays.
Using the regular takeout for
that aforementioned $1,289 Pick 4 payout, the return would have been $1,150, a
difference of $139 for each winning ticket.
Getting back to To The Limit,
he put in a spectacular final quarter to win the Arnold going away in a
lifetime-best 1:50 3/5 mile for owner Alan Cooper, trainer Kathie Plested and
pilot Tim Brown.
Plested did a tremendous job
getting him ready in his first evening appearance since late January, putting a
couple of very strong qualifiers into the pacer that obviously set him up
perfectly for the demanding assignment.
The weekend’s other feature
was the Stan Bergstein Trot and track record-holder Pridecrest did not
disappoint his many backers as he posted a coast-to-coast length and a half
victory for owner Heather Matthews and driver/trainer Luke Plano.
Veteran Blue Note takes
on solid cast
A strong case can be made for
several of the pacing fillies and mares in Saturday night’s $3,400 main event,
with Blue Note, Getter Queen Flush and Moonshinenmonkeys among the major
players.
The feature will go as the
opener on a 10-race card presented by Watch and Wager LLC and things will get
underway at 6:40 p.m.
Blue Note is a 13-year-old
daughter of Little Steven out of the Denali mare Romantic Music who comes into
this assignment with $141,000 in her bank account and a 1:54 1/5 mark that was
established here last season.
In last week’s outing at this
level, the bay miss carved out all the fractions with Luke Plano giving directions,
showed the way to deep stretch but was unable to hold off the closing charge of
heavily-favored Bettor Lady, who was scheduled to compete in Friday night’s
Kirk Breed Pace.
Getter Queen Flush and
Moonshinenmonkeys are both exiting the Open II captured last week by Shark
Festival and should be very much at home under Saturday’s conditions.
Getter Queen Flush proved a
punctual favorite the last time she started in a conditioned event on March 24.
She carries the banner of Reider, Haness, Haness and Thomas with George Reider
the conditioner and is looking for her fifth win on the year from 16
appearances.
Moonshinenmonkeys looms large
with her best mile and she is owned by Rick Bertrand and Doug Flores with
Bertrand doing the training and James Kennedy guiding. The field is rounded out
by Magnifique, Surprisingly Sweet and Totally Racy.
