By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Opening night victor Gorgeous
For Real and the classy returnee Allmyx’sliveintexas head the cast for Friday
night’s featured $6,700 Open Pace.
Racing will now be conducted
on Friday and Saturday evenings and first post for Friday’s nine-race card will
be 6:40 p.m.
Allmyx’sliveintexas and
Gorgeous For Real have been assigned the outside two posts in the field of six
and figure to attract a majority of the betting action. The former is a son of
Hi Ho Silverheels who carries the banner of Wayne and Rod Knittel with Bob
Johnson training and Mooney Svendsen at the controls.
He spent the summer at
Hoosier Park, where he set a new lifetime mark of 1:50 3/5, and comes into this
assignment on the verge of going over the $200,000 earnings plateau.
Gorgeous For Real proved a
punctual 1-5 favorite on the opening night card and will leave from just inside
his main rival with Chip Lackey guiding. He is owned by the partnership of
Schwartz, Wilkinson, Axelrod and O’Neill with Jim Wilkinson training.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s
program, the $8,900 Bill Conlin Pace will hold the spotlight with last week’s
elimination heat winners Rue Hanover and California Rock among the major
players.
California Rock proved a
punctual 3-5 favorite as he brushed to the lead past the quarter and was never
seriously threatened thereafter in his score, while Rue Hanover was sent off
the 8-5 second choice in her elimination and came home by two and a
half-lengths after withstanding a strong challenge on the final turn while
carving out the fractions.
George Reider eyeing
charmed enclosure
Trainer George Reider is back
at Cal Expo after what he describes as a nice summer up in Minnesota and is
looking forward to making his share of winner’s circle appearances.
“Every year I try to bring
some new horses back to California and you should see three or four coming out
of the barn,” he related.
Saturday’s Bill Conlin Pace
will find Reider sending out the 3-year-old mare Brooklyn Moonshine, who was
fourth in one of last week’s elimination heats while making her Golden State
debut.
She competes for George and
longtime clients Dave, Rob and Kimberly Haness, while the conditioner is also
looking forward to sending out performers for two other stalwarts of his barn
in Rick and Marlene Thomas.
Tiyaga has qualified for
Reider and could make some noise, according to the trainer. “I had him here
last year and it just took him some time to mature.”
George is also looking
forward to a promising yearling filly whose brother is the multiple Sire Stakes
winner Pride of the Sierra. That, as they say, is the stuff dreams are made
of.
“A safe and fulfilling meet,”
is George’s hope for the session.
