by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness
Sacramento, CA — A $5,100 carryover in the Pick-6 with a $10,000 guaranteed pool highlights Friday night’s (April 13) Cal Expo program.
The Pick-6 will cover races five through 10 and first post for the Watch and Wager LLC program is 6:40 p.m.
There are also two wagers offered each night that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate — the 50-cent Pick-5 on the first five races and the 20-cent Pick-4.
The Pick-4 features a $50,000 guaranteed gross pool on Saturdays and $30,000 on Fridays.
Looking ahead to the Saturday program there will be some important prep races for next week’s Lloyd Arnold Pace and Stan Bergstein Trot.
The Open Trot will find track record holder Pridecrest getting much of the attention, while I’m An Athlete and Allmyx’sliventexas have top billing in the Open Pace.
There will also be a Filly and Mare Open which spotlights the razor-sharp Delightfully Wild squaring off against a solid cast.
Remillard, Cruisin For You delight longshot players
Richard Remillard lit up the toteboard last weekend with Cruisin For You, guiding the Lester Smith-trained pacer to a three-quarter length victory while rewarding his backers to a $67 payoff.
The Juan Pacheco color-bearer had actually won two back as the 4-5 favorite, but was coming off a poor effort and just wasn’t getting any love at the windows this time around.
Remillard, a 62-year-old native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is about to complete his first season of competition at Cal Expo, noting “It’s been nice to get away from the cold.”
Richard fell in love with the trotters and pacers when introduced to harness racing by his brother-in-law as a teenager. He has spent most of his time over the last 40 years dividing his time between his day job as a meat cutter and market manager while maintaining a ranch in Winnipeg.
“It was only two years ago that I decided to concentrate solely on the horses,” he explained. “My partner Val recently retired and after talking to Quentin Schneider, we decided to come down to California and give it a try before we get too old.”