by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Last week saw Cattle Baron make a winning local debut at Cal Expo for Wendi Weiner and Nathalie Tremblay, while in a race earlier on that card it was Shoot The Works posing for yet another snapshot with Matias Ruiz.

Cattle Baron is a sophomore pacer who was coming off a runner-up finish at Assiniboia Downs in Canada last month and was picking up his first lifetime decision. With Steve Wiseman in the sulky, he came from next-to-last to prevail by a length in his initial Cal Expo foray.

“We got him from Annie Chappell in Alberta,” Weiner explained. “He’s a nice-looking horse with lots of chrome, so he definitely stands out. He’s only a 3-year-old, so we’re hoping for great times ahead.”

Speaking of winners, there aren’t too many who do it better than the Matias Ruiz owned and trained 6-year-old pacer Shoot The Works. A 12-time victor from 31 trips to the post last season, last week saw the son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s getting the job done for the 10th time from 22 outings this year.

Going from the No. 8 post to the one-hole for that assignment, Shoot The Works brushed to command at the half for regular pilot Luke Plano and took complete control of things from that point. He waltzed home with 2-3/4 lengths to spare and the 1:53.4 clocking was just a tick off his lifetime standard.

“He was on the farm when he was offered to me last September,” Ruiz related. “I needed horses and took a chance. I had him for about two months before I ever started him. I knew he had ability, but he also had his problems.”

Shoot The Works will attempt another score in Thursday evening’s eighth race, while Cattle Baron tries to keep his California record perfect when he suits up in the night’s sixth event. Encores, anyone?

Final three nights of winter-spring meet

The next three nights will bring down the curtain on the current winter-spring meeting, with the summer-fall-winter meet scheduled to resume on August 26.

On Thursday, in addition to both Pick 4s offering a reduced 15 percent takeout, the Late Pick 4 comes attached with a $10,000 guaranteed gross pool. Last week, despite a 4-5 favorite in the sequence, the Late Pick 4 returned a healthy $1,521 for each winning $1 ticket.

On Saturday night, the guaranteed gross pool for the Late Pick 4 (mandatory payoff) has been increased to $15,000. Both the Early and Late Pick 4s have a reduced 15 percent takeout, with a bonus payout of 17.65 percent for winning Late Pick 4 tickets played on track at Cal Expo or at TwinSpires.com.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (June 16) and continues through closing night Saturday (June 18). Post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6 p.m.