By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
A $20,000 California Sire
Stakes for the 4-year-old male pacers featuring Chase The Gold and
Alilthundadownunda; a pair of $7,500 Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old pacing
colts and 3-year-old pacing fillies and a $6,500 Distaff Open Pace headed by
Rockin With Lou share the spotlight Sunday evening at Cal Expo.
Watch and Wager LLC will
present an 11-race card that is set to get underway at 5 p.m.
Chase The Gold comes into
weekend’s assignment riding a seven-race winning streak for owner Qks Racing
and trainer Quentin Schneider and he will be piloted by James Kennedy.
Among his conquests at this
meet are the Donald Arnstine and Steve Wiseman Finals, setting his 1:52 4/5
mark in the latter; and a decision in the first Sire Stakes clash of the season
three weeks ago.
Alilthundadownunda will be
looking for some revenge after being beaten only a half-length in the latter
contest while making his first start since coming in from Minnesota for Set The
Pace Racing LLC and driver/trainer Nick Roland.
Since that near-miss, he has
captured a conditioned affair and should be much tighter for his second clash
with Chase The Gold. Completing that field are Believe In Dragons, SD Watch Me
Now, Im A Magic Man and Arnie’s Army.
The Sire Stakes for the 3-year-old
pacing colts is headed by the unbeaten Worthy Opponent for owner/breeder Wayne
and Rod Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson and driver Mooney Svendsen, while the
contest for the sophomore pacing fillies finds the same connections represented
by Toot Toot and pilot Chip Lackey in a non-betting event.
Sophomores get chance
at Sire Stakes money
The first Sire Stakes events
for the 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings and 3-year-old pacing fillies are
set for Sunday evening, and owner/breeders Wayne and Rod Knittel and trainer
Bob Johnson look to be holding a strong hand in both divisions.
Worthy Opponent is unbeaten
in three impressive scores with Mooney Svendsen, while his filly counterpart
Toot Toot has been no match versus her stablemate in two appearances and should
be a handful while racing with distaffers for the first time.
Both are offspring of the
late Hi Ho Silverheel’s, with Worthy Opponent out of the Dragon Again mare
Mistup Magic and Toot Toot out of the Artsplace mare Aftermath.
Worthy Opponent has crushed
his opposition by a combined 18 lengths, overcoming an early miscue two back
and then lowering his mark to 1:58 flat in last week’s 10-length romp with
Svendsen.
Johnson related, “Mooney said
he doesn’t feel like he’s going that fast, which is always a good sign.”
Meanwhile, Toot Toot is
getting away from Worthy Opponent after being the exacta-completer behind her
barnmate in her only two trips to the post and it will be interesting to see
how she performs against the girls with Chip Lackey back at the controls.
***
A reminder there are three
wagers offered here each night with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the
20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4 – with the latter
featuring a $30,000-guaranteed gross pool on Fridays and a $25,000 guarantee on
Saturdays.
