by Mark Ratzky, publicity department, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — TV Mom, who has rattled off back-to-back victories, will attempt to keep the momentum going in Wednesday’s (August 8) featured trot at Cal-Expo. Set to square off against the razor-sharp mare are London Calling, Cast British, Mario’s Be Happy, Cherry Tree Luke and United We Stand.

A 4-year-old daughter of Ilooklikemymom, who was bred in Ohio, TV Mom looks tough right back after handling this caliber impressively in her last two trips to the post. Kennedy Lindsey conditions the distaffer for Maurice Sigmon while Lemoyne Svendsen will be at the controls.

Etienne Desomer was at the helm when TV Mom got the job done on July 28 in a starter allowance affair. They blasted right to the top that evening at 5-1, carved out all the fractions without a challenge, and came to the wire with three-quarters of a length on Mario’s Be Happy.

Leaving from the cozy one-hole last week with Svendsen giving directions, TV Mom got a perfect pocket journey behind United We Stand, took over decisively into the stretch and prevailed by three lengths in 1:58.2, with that final clocking shaving two ticks of a second off her previous mark.

Cherry Tree Luke completed the exacta that evening and will be looking to turn the tables for owner Clint Lugar, trainer Lou Pena and driver Jim Lackey. The 7-year-old Sierra Kosmos offspring has four wins, seven seconds and four thirds on his 2007 resume and is closing in on the $100,000 earnings plateau with a 1:57.2 career standard.

Cherry Tree Luke registered his most recent victory on July 21 while returning $22 with Gilbert Herrera at the helm. Making his first start since some missed time in that mile, he was a game first-over victor in a big effort. He was third behind TV Mom at next asking after making a big move turning for home.

In last week’s tour, the Lugar color-bearer was shuffled a bit midway, then finished willingly once clear for the drive, but had spotted TV Mom too big an advantage and had to be happy with the exacta completion while checking in well clear of the third-place finisher.

Cast British got the show money as the 9-5 favorite and is back for this affair. The Virginia Schick performer is reined and trained by Rick Plano and is eyeing her sixth victory from 30 starts on the season. The British Sterling mare got her last snapshot following a starter event on July 6 and will be trying to add to a $140,000 bankroll. She established her 1:56.1 mark here last year.

London Calling is capable of a big finish and has to be respected. Raul Escobedo conditions the 7-year-old mare and also co-owns with Salvador and Georgette Wenceslao. London Calling last clicked in July 5 by using her strong late kick to overpower the leaders and is coming off a fourth with this group. Rich Wojcio will be in his usual spot in the sulky.

Popular Bal-Cal wager makes return

After taking a break, Balmoral Park is back in action this week, which means the return of the popular Bal-Cal Pick 4 Challenge. The $1 wager combines two races (races 10 and 11) at that Illinois track with a pair (races 9 and 10) from Cal-Expo and it comes attached with a $25,000-guaranteed pool.

To give you some idea of just how dynamite this bet can be, last fall saw returns of $20,000, $19,000 and $18,000 for each buck invested, and there have been several nice paydays in the interim.

For the past several weeks, the Chi-Cal has been the cross-country wager of choice, with two races from Hawthorne and two from Cal-Expo making up the combination. Two weeks ago saw a major overlay, with $9 and $8 victors at Hawthorne joining with $5 and $30 winners at this layout for a juicy $4,600 return. Last week the Chi-Cal paid $909 for each winning ticket.

As far as the switch from Hawthorne to Balmoral, Cal-Expo track announcer and publicity director Scott Ehrlich provides some insight.

“Balmoral is a mile track just like Hawthorne, but the stretch at Balmoral is 40 feet longer and the turn at Hawthorne is more sweeping.

“Drivers at Hawthorne tend to pull earlier, because there isn’t an open stretch like there is at Balmoral, where you see more of them waiting until the three-quarters to make their move.”

So sharpen those pencils and take a shot at this guaranteed pool, where the water is always fine and four winners can combine to make an excellent payday.

Post time for the first leg of the Bal-Cal Challenge will be at approximately 8:26 p.m. (PDT).

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo tonight (Wednesday), continuing through Saturday. Post time on Wednesday is at 6:00 p.m. (PDT) and on Thursday is at 6:15 p.m. Post time on Friday and Saturday is at 6:30 p.m. On Wednesdays, admission is free, plus Cal-Expo offers a complete lasagna dinner, with salad and bread, for just $2.00.

Cal-Expo offers guaranteed $10,000 pools on all Pick-4’s!