Trotters, pacers return
to Cal Expo Saturday night
By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Saturday is opening night of
the Watch and Wager LLC harness meeting at Cal Expo, with a 12-race program
headed by a pair of $7,000 Open Paces.
First post is 6:10 p.m. and
beginning next week there will be racing on Friday and Saturday evenings.
New at this meeting will be
the Single 6, a 10-cent wager with a unique serial number jackpot winner. There
will be 50 percent going to the consolation pool and 50 percent to the
jackpot.
The first of the Open events
goes as the eighth on the card and finds Gorgeous For Real going postward off a
solid qualifying score last weekend. The 4-year-old races for Billie Schwartz,
Junior Wilkinson and Ivan Axelrod with Wilkinson training and Luke Plano at the
controls.
Gorgeous For Real has posed
for pictures following 14 of his 58 lifetime outings with a career standard of
1:51 flat that was set at Hoosier Park on August 17.
Gravelsinmytravel is suiting
up for veteran Dean Magee in this contest. The 7-year-old son of Veracious
Hanover leaves from the cozy rail slot and will be gunning for his sixth
victory of the season from 22 trips to the post.
Gravelsinmytravel recorded
his most recent score at Running Aces on August 19, igniting when it counted to
be up by a head and comes into this assignment with a 1:51 3/5 lifetime
standard that was established two years ago at the Meadowlands. Rounding out
the field are Dontdoubtthelakers, Mr Varsity, Last Dragon, Prodigal,
Swagasaurusrex and Twomickeytrip.
I’m An Athlete back on
the big track
I’m An Athlete will be
gunning for his 40th lifetime score from 186 trips to the post when
he suits up in Saturday night’s ninth race for owner Ronald Rettig-Zucchi,
trainer Jessie Pacheco and pilot James Kennedy.
The 8-year-old son of Art
Major spent his summer at Running Aces, Pocono and Harrah’s Philadelphia, and
according to this trainer is happy to be home after a nice runner-up effort in
a 1:56 25/ qualifier last weekend.
“He’s just so-so on the
smaller tracks around the tight turns, but he really likes it here at Cal
Expo,” Pacheco noted. “That qualifier was just to get him night and tight for
this weekend.”
I’m An Athlete has earned his
$185,590 bankroll the old-fashioned way and established his 1:51 flat lifetime
mark here earlier the season. He’ll look to get back to his winning ways while
leaving from the middle of the field.
“He’s a real pro,” Jessie
related when asked about the veteran pacer. “You can jog him with two fingers
and he doesn’t need hopples to train. The only thing is, he’s much better
around the big turns like we have here at Cal Expo.”
Pacheco currently houses 16
performers in the shedrow, with several more due in soon, and is looking to get
things off to a fast start this weekend.
***
There are two wagers offered
here each night with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate. They are the 50-cent
Pick 5 that begins on the first race and the 20-cent Pick 4 that will get
underway with the ninth race.
