by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Saturday night (June 4) at Cal Expo will kick off the TVG Get Away Amateur Driver Series, with six races spread out over the next three weekends. Set to do friendly battle are Sue Boyce, Karen Isbell, Amanda Fraser, David Siegel, Rick Bertrand, Benny Mancino, Keith Willey and Nick Casale.

Rick Bertrand was a member of the Billings Amateur Club back East for a couple of years and really enjoys participating in these unique events.

“David Siegel does a great job of putting these together and it’s a lot of fun to drive in them,” he said.

Bertrand especially likes the challenges that find drivers coming from the East and the recent New Zealand Friendship event.

“Not only do you get to drive horses you don’t normally get the chance to drive, but you have a little communication to go along with it.”

The 48-year-old Bertrand has been in the business since he was 15.

“I grew up only three miles from Hazel Park in Michigan. My parents used to go to the track and got to know some of the horsemen. In the summer I would go to the track and clean stalls and hang around. When I was 19 I started training horses and fell in love with every aspect of harness racing. Through the years I was fortunate enough to work for some very good trainers like Terry, Tim and Todd Butler, Merritt Dokey, Mickey Burke and Mark Silva.”

Bertrand has competed over his share of tracks, both large and small, in addition to racing at Cal Expo.

“I’ve driven at tracks like Hazel Park, Balmoral, The Meadows, Pocono, Northfield, Mohawk and Indiana Downs.”

Free TrackMaster full card past performances for the next three Saturday nights will be available at www.trackmaster.com/calx.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (June 2) and continues through Saturday (June 4). Post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6 p.m.

Every Thursday night through the end of the meeting, both Pick 4s offer a reduced 15 percent takeout rate, with the Late Pick 4 coming attached with a $10,000 guaranteed gross pool.