Bettor In The Bank, Kennedy a strong team

Sacramento, CA — Bettor In The Bank became the first three-winner at the Cal Expo meet when the 9-year-old pacer made short work of his conditioned rivals last week with James Kennedy at the controls.

Despite leaving from the outside post in the field of nine, Bettor In The Bank got the job done once again by saving his best for last, looping the leaders into the lane to win going away by 4-1/2 lengths.

A son of Better Tuwin who is owned by Debra McCarthy and conditioned by Gordie Graham, Bettor In The Bank was winning for the 46th time from 185 starts and pushed his career bank account to $236,007 in the process. He established his 1:51.3 standard here last season.

“He’s just too classy for the horses he’s been racing against here,” said Kennedy of the McCarthy color bearer. “He definitely likes to come at the end, so even though he had the outside post last time, I was worried about it. At some point he’ll come out and make his move.”

Bettor In The Bank will attempt to keep the streak going in Friday evening’s fourth race, leaving from the much more advantageous No. 3 post in the field of seven.

The victory with Bettor In The Bank last Friday was one of four tallies on the card for Kennedy, who is looking to repeat as the leading driver at this meeting. His other scores came with Joltin Joe, Relentless Dancer and Marilyn.

As far as repeating as leading pilot at this stand, James acknowledges this is one of the strongest driving colonies in recent memory.

“I don’t know if I can repeat this year, but some people wait their whole lives to get a title and I was very proud to do it at the last meeting.”

Trot, Distaff Pace head the Friday night marquee

An Open II Filly and Mare Pace featuring Dancingonthesand and an Open II Trot that brings out Its A Horse and invading Scramble Camp are the main attractions on Friday night’s program at Cal Expo. There will be 12 races presented under the Watch and Wager LLC banner with first post set for 6:10 p.m.

Dancinginthesand will be gunning for her third straight victory in the Distaff Pace while being asked to leave from the outside slot in the field of 10. Alan Cooper owns, Kathie Plested trains and Mooney Svendsen will be in the sulky.

After a romping score here on Nov. 9, Dancinginthesand did her work from the No. 9 slot in last weekend’s clash at this level and came from double digits off the pace to post a 1-1/2 length score with Svendsen.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s program, the $8,500 Funicello/Holt final, an Open Pace headed by Allmyx’sliventexas and two divisions of the Alan Horowitz elimination will headline the evening’s action.

Tabbat Mcrey, who came from out of the clouds to record her first Cal Expo victory last week, gets the top billing in the Funicello/Holt final, which is for pacing fillies and mares.

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There are two wagers offered here nightly that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate. They are the 20-cent Pick-5, which begins on the first race, and the 20-cent Pick-4, which comes with a $25,000 guaranteed gross pool.

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