by Mark Ratzky, publicity department, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — Reno Rose, fresh from a strong 8-1 upset, and Biggest Big Bertha, her most immediate victim as the even-money favorite, get another chance to settle the score in Wednesday night’s (June 6) $4,200 Cal-Expo headliner for pacing fillies and mares.

Reno Rose is a multiple stakes winner who is owned by her breeders Bob and Loretta Staats, is trained by Bob Johnson and once again has Luke Plano giving directions. She overcame the outside post last week to drop into a stalking position, then ignited when the question was asked to scoot by the pace-setting chalk by three-quarters of a length. The 1:54.4 clocking shaved a tick off her mark.

Biggest Big Bertha is a 6-year-old daughter of Little Steven, out of the Artsplace mare Ripreza Hanover, who races for David Shell and Lori Stewart, takes her lessons from Matias Ruiz, and will have Rick Kuebler giving directions. She comes into this assignment with $152,000 in her bank account.

The hard-knocking pacer did some excellent work here last season, then headed to the East Coast, where she took on some tough competition at the Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway in New Jersey. She went to the sidelines in late September and did not show up again until an April 25 qualifier here.

Biggest Big Bertha has been knocking on the door in her three efforts this season, starting off with a fourth place finish in a race she had to need, in which she fanned deep coming into the stretch. She followed that with a second to the streaking Sintillating after sitting a tracking journey.

Sent off the even-money choice for last week’s engagement, the Ruiz trainee was parked to the lead at the quarter, then carved out all the fractions without challenge. While she dug in when it counted, Reno Rose had too much kick for her and prevailed by three-quarters of a length, with Biggest Big Bertha finishing well clear of the rest.

Charter Ridge was third in that contest and has to be respected for Rick and Scott Cisco. The Ironridge offspring has clicked in three of her 19 starts this season, with the most recent tally coming from far off the pace at this same level on April 20. She rewarded her backers to the tune of $42 that evening and was a solid third in her last try after stalking Biggest Big Bertha the entire journey.

IM Bossy should be tighter after last week’s mile, which was her first since finishing third in a May 5 Sire Stakes. Jim Perez conditions the Power Of Art homebred for Andy and Victor Perez and Rich Wojcio will be in his usual spot in the sulky. She has a 1:53.4 mark from last season and helps make things interesting.

Jay Bee’s Muffie hails from the Jean MacDonell shedrow and this Eileen Brodbar color-bearer has the early zip to get a good spot. She is still searching for her first 2007 snapshot in her 11th trip to the post.

Millwood Lilli N (Rick Plano) and Flirtiscape (Steve Hyman) round out the cast.

Jump right into the Bal-Cal pool

For those who like something different with a little value in the mix, may we suggest the Bal-Cal Pick 4 Challenge, which takes place every Wednesday night. The $1 wager combines two races from Balmoral Park (races 10 and 11) in Illinois, with a pair from Cal-Expo (races 10 and 11), and comes attached with a $25,000 guaranteed pool.

Last week’s return was $2,750 for each correct dollar ticket, thanks in large part to the $44 upset posted by Beach Shark in the final local leg for owner/trainer Jose Ramirez and pilot Scott Cisco. The 5-year-old pacer made sure there wasn’t any doubt, as he drew off by 1-1/4 lengths in that affair to really add some punch to the combination.

The prospect of turning $1 into a major payday was realized several times during the fall, when returns of $20,000, $19,000 and $18,000 were recorded. The racing secretaries at both tracks do their very best to put the fullest and most contentious events on the respective cards in these spots in hopes of making this a worthy challenge for handicappers with something big waiting at the windows.

For a little help in putting together a Bal-Cal ticket, we went to Roger McDow, who is not only an owner, but one of the sharpest handicapper/bettors we know.

“I look at the Bal-Cal the same way I would any other Pick 4,” McDow explained. “What I do is look at each race separately, before I even think about how I’m going to put together a ticket. I believe a lot of people think of the ticket and look at the races at the same time.

“What I try to do is break each race into layers, without necessarily getting too specific. It could be an A and B horse go as top contenders, followed by three who have a chance, and then the ones I consider to be toss outs. As far as singles go, if you can see an obvious one, that’s probably the single that everybody else has, and there’s no value in doing that.

“The value in a bet like the Pick 4 is to beat the singles, so that’s what I’m always looking to do. As far as the size of the play, I can say I’ve ended up with $36 tickets that looked to have plenty of value, and on other occasions I’ll end up with a $108 ticket that may not offer nearly as much. Again, the key for me is looking at each of the races individually before even considering how much I’m going to spend on the ticket.”

Post time for the first leg of the Bal-Cal Challenge will be at approximately 8:23 p.m. (PDT).

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo tonight (Wednesday), continuing through Saturday. Post time on Wednesday and Thursday is at 5:35 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Fridays and Saturdays is now at 6:15 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!