By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
The first California Sire
Stakes of the season for the 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers is set for
Sunday evening, with Lodi Phillip and Arnie’s Army figuring to get plenty of
attention in the $7,500 contest.
Watch and Wager LLC will
present a 12-race card and things get underway at 4:50 p.m. The Sire Stakes is
scheduled as the fourth contest on the evening.
Lodi Phillip is a homebred
son of Another Mile who races for Mary Harris and Pierre Girard, is conditioned
by Girard and will have the services of Mooney Svendsen this weekend.
The dark-hued performer
rattled off back-to-back scores on January 30 and February, recording a
lifetime-best 1:56 clocking in the latter score. He will do his work from the
middle of the five-horse cast.
Arnie’s Army races for his
breeders Wayne and Rod Knittel with the Bob Johnson the conditioner and Luke
Plano at the helm. The son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s should be a nice fit with this
group.
Taking on this pair are the
Quentin Schneider-trained pair of Believe in Dragons with Cordarius Stewart and
Chase the Gold with Nick Roland, while the Ariel Alvarez-trained Im A Magic Man
completes the line-up with Jacob Cutting in the sulky.
A reminder there are three
wagers offered 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 features a
$25,000-guaranteed gross pool.
Ashlee Sluggett
enjoying the ride
Relentless Dancer has made a
trio of appearances in the charmed enclosure for owner/trainer Ashlee Sluggett
at this meet, showing an affinity for the oval.
“Having your horse go out
there and do well makes all the hard work worth it,” Sluggett related recently.
The 31-year-old native of
Alberta, Canada, has been around horses most of her life, but it wasn’t until
she was 19 that she got involved with the trotters and pacers. “I heard they
were building a new racetrack near where I lived and I went to check it out,”
she explained.
“It turned out to be Alberta
Downs. That’s when I met Jamie Grey and went to work with him, learning about
harness racing from the ground up.”
Ashlee then spent nine years
with Ryan Grundy, including a couple of stints here at Cal Expo. She also
worked with Kim and Quentin Schneider last season before venturing to New York
to be part of the Blake MacIntosh barn.
“That’s when I decided it was
time to take out my license and I came back to California with six horses,” she
related. “The plan has always been to go back to New York after this meet ends
and rejoin Blake’s barn.”
A reminder 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, with the latter
sporting a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool.
