By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Heza Real Diamond, who has
rattled off an impressive hat trick at the head of the class, looks to add
another score to the streak as heads the field for Friday night’s $6,700 Open
Pace.
There will also be a $6,700
Filly and Mare Open Pace that finds a rematch between Alwaysalittlemore and the
mare who upset her last week in Bertha Vanation.
There will be 11 races
contested under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post set for 6:10
p.m.
Heza Real Diamond is a
4-year-old son of Allamerican Native who is owned by Orlando Nevarez, takes his
lessons from Edwin Quevedo and will once again have the services of Nick Roland
while leaving from the assigned No. 10 post position.
The hard-knocking performer
has posed for pictures following five of his last six outings, with the only
setback being a nose defeat at the hands of Allmyx’sliventexas, who will be
among his rivals on Friday.
In his most recent appearance
two weeks ago, Heza Real Diamond also did his work from that demanding No. 10
slot and proved a punctual 2-5 favorite as he made two moves to the lead at the
half and took complete control of things from that point.
The Nevarez colorbearer had
three and three quarter lengths on runner-up Bestinthebusiness that night and
equaled his lifetime standard with the 1:51 1/5 clocking. In addition to
Allmyx’sliventexas and Bestinthebusiness, Heza Real Diamond will line up
against Queenace Blue Chip, Almost Cut My Hair and Bettor’s Promise.
$31,188 Single 6
carryover spices the Friday action
There is a $31,188 carryover
going into Friday night’s 10-cent Single 6 wager, with the sequence getting
underway in the fifth race.
There are also two wagers
offered here each night that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the
20-cent Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4.
The Pick 4 comes with a
$40,000-guaranteed gross pool on Saturdays and a $30,000 guarantee on Fridays.
To show the added value of
the low takeout bets, two weeks ago there was a Pick 4 sequence that returned
$1,008 for each correct 20-cent ticket.
Using the old takeout, it
would have returned $907, a difference of $101 for each winning
prognostication.
***
In addition to the 11-race
program on Friday, there will be a pair of California Sire Stakes for
3-year-olds going as non-betting affairs prior to the regular card.
Both Its Pointless among the
males and Prom Queen with the fillies have swept their respective divisions to
this point and will look to continue their dominance for trainers Gordie Graham
and Robin Clements, respectively.
