By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Rockinscience, fresh from a
sparkling victory for driver/trainer Luke Plano, takes on a solid cast in
Saturday night’s featured $9,700 Robert Gordon Pace.
Watch and Wager LLC will
present 13 races with first post set for 4:55 p.m. and the main event will go
as the eighth contest on the evening.
There are several major
contenders in the Gordon line-up, with Rockinscience likely to have his share
of backers as he goes for the hat trick this weekend. The 4-year-old son of
Rockin Image carries the banner of Nikki Hudson and Dave Haness.
After taking the measure of a
softer group here on January 10, the bay performer came back last week and
streaked home in :27 1/5 to make it two in a row while stopping the timer in
1:52 2/5, shaving two full seconds off his lifetime mark.
Bobs Time will be gunning for
his third snapshot from his last five trips to the post and is another major
player. Rick Bertrand owns and trains the 4-year-old with Jake Cutting in his
usual spot in the sulky.
Bobs Time proved a punctual
even-money favorite last week as he sat the pocket early, brushed to command on
the final bend and went on to a length and a quarter score over Cut A Rug, who
will again be among his rivals in the Gordon with Doug Chappell at the
controls.
Rounding out the field are
Paddy Murphy, to be handled by Cordarius Stewart; Its Pointless, Tony Kerwood;
Villa For Rent with Mooney Svendsen; and Artspire, who will leave from the
outside slot with Nick Roland guiding.
Low takeout wagers offer true value
There are three wagers offered here each night that come with
a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the 20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the
20-cent Pick 4, the latter featuring a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool.
To give you some idea of the value that comes as a result of
the lower takeout, take a look at last Sunday night’s 20-cent Pick 5 that
covered the first five races on the card.
There was an even-money winner, three horses clicking at 3-1
and one scoring at 5-1, with the 20-cent investment coming back a nifty
$353.68, which equates to a much higher return than the parlay and a nice
increase on what the regular takeout payoff.
***
This weekend’s Robert Gordon Pace is named for the noted
driver/trainer and track executive who passed away at age 65 in 2006.
Bob Gordon started his 40-year-career in Ohio and learned his
lessons under the outstanding horseman Bob Farrington. He eventually settled in
California and was a mainstay at the top of the standings from the late 70s
through the early 90s, conditioning such starts as Stand By N, Theora Hanover
and Pack Leader.
Gordon was a past president of the Western Harness
Standardbred Association and the California Harness Horse Breeders Association,
while in the early 90s he served as a director of the United States Trotting
Association.
He was president of Premier Harness Racing, which raced at
Los Alamitos, and was instrumental in keeping the sport alive in the mid 90s at
a time when harness racing was definitely on the ropes.
Bob Gordon was also director of backstretch operations for
the Sacramento Harness Association and helped in starting the not-for-profit
corporation, which was operating at Cal Expo at the time of his death.
