by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — As wedding gifts go, the 4-year-old Franky Provolone has to be pretty unique. Rick Plano gave the trotter to son Luke and bride Nikki when they got married last year, and last week found the son of Armbro Scribe getting his picture taken for the sixth time on the season.

Franky Provolone, who gave Cal Expo announcer Scott Ehrlich a high fastball to hit out of the park when he battled with Bobby Baccala through the stretch in that score, is a workmanlike trotter who likes to play the stalking role.

“Franky went a good race last time and he’s one of five horses I’ve got here,” Luke Plano informed. “The plan is to stay at least through the stakes races, and then we’ll see what happens. My dad is at Vernon Downs right now, then he’ll be going to Florida.”

Plano, who won a 2-year-old Sire Stakes last weekend with Littlest Mermaid for trainer Denise Maier, will be a heavy favorite to do the same with his barn’s Shamderock on Saturday in the first big-money clash of the fall for the 3-year-old pacing males.

The D & E Racing homebred has made a clean sweep of the stakes events for his division to this point, with enough trophies to fill a room. He’s captured half of his 32 lifetime appearances with a 1:52 standard that was established this summer at Vernon Downs and his stakes rivals this weekend have their work cut out once again.

Bronte Amateur Series, Breeders Crown simulcast set for Saturday

The second leg of the Bronte Epilepsy Research Foundation Amateur Series, with a pair of $10,000 finales looming next week, and a simulcast of the Breeders Crown program from Woodbine are on tap Saturday night at Cal Expo.

The amateur series is being sponsored by Lou Pena and some of his owners. Between their generosity and the driver fees, a total of $7,000 beyond the purse monies will go to the Bronte Foundation. In addition, driver George Brennan has pledged an additional donation which will significantly augment that figure.

There is one event for males and one for distaffers, going in two divisions each. The first leg of the series found the pacers sporting $3,000 base claiming prices, while they will have $4,500 claiming tags this time around. The top eight purse earners from each group will compete in the respective $10,000 finales and there will be no claiming in that affair. It was also recently announced that there will be an on-track 500 T-shirt giveaway on that Saturday (Nov. 5).

Last week’s opening leg saw Dave Siegel accounting for three of the four races, capturing both contests for the males with Rude Awakening and Serious Art and one of the distaff events with OG’s Si Bon. Amanda Fraser guided the other mare victress in Incredible Gambler.

Four of the pacers changed hands via the claiming box, including the aforementioned Serious Art who was taken after a six-way shake. Also claimed were Kamoda’s Fantasy, Sterling Chris and Just Plum Lucky. It will be interesting to see how much claiming takes place this weekend.

Free TrackMaster Cal Expo past performances for the next two Saturday programs will be available at www.trackmaster.com/calx and at www.calexpoharness.com.

Meanwhile, the complete 12-race Breeders Crown card from Woodbine will be simulcast on Saturday. The outstanding card features $6 million in purses and a pair of $100,000-guaranteed Pick-4 wagers.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (Oct. 27) at 5:30 p.m. (PDT) and continues on Friday (Oct. 28) and Saturday (Oct. 29) at 6 p.m. Cal Expo, in partnership with the USTA Strategic Wagering committee, will offer the Thursday Pick-4s with a 15 percent takeout and a $10,000 guarantee on the late Pick-4. On Saturdays, Cal Expo will continue to offer a reduced 15 percent takeout rate on both Pick 4s. In addition, the late Pick-4 will come with a $10,000 guaranteed pool with a zero percent takeout on successful late Pick-4 tickets made on track or at Twinspires.com.