By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Walker Meister has been a
steady performer over the last few seasons, making his share of winner’s circle
appearances for trainer George Reider, who co-owns the 7-year-old pacer with
Dave, Rob and Kim Haness.
A 1:52 2/5 victor last season
at Running Aces, Walker Meister added another W to the resume last weekend over
a sloppy track, proving a punctual favorite after making what proved to be the
winning move to the lead by the half for James Kennedy.
“I bought Walker Meister
three years ago in Minnesota in partnership with Dave, Rob and Kim,” Reider
noted.
“It took a little while, and
he’s always had some soundness issues, but he’s turned into a nice little
racehorse. He enjoys racing and I enjoy racing him. I hope I can find another
one like him in Minnesota this year.”
Walker Meister is set to suit
up in Saturday evening’s ninth race, where he will depart from the No. 4 post
in the field of nine with Kennedy back at the controls.
Marvin Shapiro Final,
Distaff Open on tap
Outlawintriguedbyu, a
coast-to-coast winner last weekend, gets the top billing in Saturday night’s
$8,400 Marvin Shapiro Final for pacing fillies and mares, while Capitol Hill
and Brighten Your Life get a rematch in the co-featured Distaff Open Pace.
An 11-race card is scheduled
under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post at 6:10 p.m. Looking ahead
to Saturday, an Open Pace, an Open Trot and a trio of Sire Stakes will be
featured.
Outlawintriguedbyu is a
5-year-old daughter of Blue Burner who competes for Benvenga Racing LLC and
Azarik Sivatjian, is conditioned by Kathie Plested and will once again have
Steve Wiseman at the controls.
In last week’s Shapiro Prep,
the dark-hued miss was sent off the 5-2 second choice and made every pole a
winning one over the sloppy going, reporting to the wire with two lengths over
stablemate Chilma.
The latter was the mild
favorite in that contest and put in a real nice finish to complete the exacta.
This Plested trainee is owned by Larry and Carol Parlin and has Mooney Svendsen
once again doing the honors.
Completing the field are
Lookslikewemadit, If You Say So, Rockinroundheaven, Hi Fidelity, Cenalta
Cougar, Sweet One; and La Diva De Rosa.
In the Filly and Mare Open
Pace, Brighten Your Life will look to snap a string of six straight runner-up
finishes for owner/driver/trainer Nathan Sobey while Capitol Hill will gun for
a repeat at the top rung for trainer Plested and co-owner George McChrystal
with Mooney Svendsen guiding.
A reminder there are two
wagers offered here each night with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate. They are
the 50-cent Pick 5 which is decided on the first five races, and the 20-cent
Pick 4.
The Pick 4 which comes with a
$30,000-guaranteed gross pool on Fridays and $40,000 on Saturdays.
