by Mark Ratzky, publicity department, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — Hitchiker, who has clicked in 10 of his 14 starts, including nine at Cal-Expo, makes his first start since late August in Chicago against the likes of British Columbia and Easter Call in Wednesday’s (October 17) $4,900 trotting headliner in California.

A 3-year-old son of Tulane, Hitchiker races for Desomer Stables Inc. with Vickie Desomer the trainer and Etienne Desomer at the controls. He will be looking to add to a $133,000 bank account and sports a 1:54 mark that was set this summer at the Meadowlands.

Hitchiker burst onto the scene at Cal-Expo last fall by making a clean sweep of the stakes events for the 2-year-old colts. Then he did an encore in the four big-money events for the division this season before heading east for bigger game. He returns to Cal-Expo with two solid qualifiers to prepare for Wednesday’s return to the wars.

Among those set to greet the Desomer color-bearer are Easter Call and British Columbia, who, last week, were second and third respectively behind a razor-sharp Final Choice. The latter suits up for Thursday’s Invitational, where he will take on the come-backing Desperatehousewife.

Easter Call is a 6-year-old from the Lou Pena stable. He is owned by John Darrah and Nick Ruscigno and will have Rick Kuebler guiding from the cozy one hole. He has four victories to his credit this season, the most recent coming at this level back on September 14. In the interim, he has had last week’s runner-up finish, plus two thirds and a fourth.

British Columbia is a British Sterling homebred who races for Alan Kirschenbaum and is reined and trained by Steve Hyman. She has clicked in five of her 27 appearances on the year, including an eye-catching five length romp on September 28 that saw her changing style and making every pole a winning one that evening.

She was bothered at next asking and was third (placed second via disqualification) behind Final Choice, then once again had to watch that one get the job done last week after carving out the fractions. She should be very dangerous here no matter how things shake out early.

Rounding out the cast are Simply Made with Ed Hensley; N V Warlord, who will have the services of Rocky Stidham; and Bangers and Mash N, who has the outside slot with Lou Pena giving directions.

An 11-race card is on tap, with the feature set as the second event on the evening.

Bal-Cal offers cross-country puzzle

Wednesday night means another renewal of the popular Bal-Cal Pick-4 Challenge, the $1 wager that combines the last two races (races 10 and 11) at Balmoral Park with the final pair (races 10 and 11) from Cal-Expo and comes attached with a $25,000-guaranteed pool.

The racing secretaries at both venues do their very best to put the fullest and most contentious events on their respective cards in these positions, in hopes of giving fans the chance to hit it big. Give it a try; you might just wind up with a jackpot for a dollar. Post time for the first leg of the Bal-Cal Challenge will be at approximately 8:23 p.m. (PDT).

Paquet approaching milestones

Recent arrival Fern Paquet, Jr., who will be profiled later in the week, is approaching a couple of career milestones as he closes in on 2,000 victories in the sulky and $10 million in earnings, and that got us checking out the other top drivers currently plying their trade here.

Rick Plano and Rick Kuebler are the leaders, with 4,802 and 4,267 respective scores to their credit. Both have also banked over $19 million as a result of their appearances on the track.

There are two pilots in the local room in the 3,000-win club. Ed Hensley has made 3,797 trips to the charmed circle for over $16 million, while Rich Wojcio has 3,346 notches on his belt with in excess of $20 million in earnings. Jim Lackey is on the verge of picking up his 3,000th snapshot as well.

Veterans Gene Vallandingham, Steve Desomer and Bruce Clarke round out the 2,000-plus win column. Gene Gene the driving machine is nearing his 2,900th winning lap, while Steve is closing in on the 2,600th win of his illustrious career. Bruce just recently recorded the 2,600th win of his career.

The four-figure winners in the local room are Tim Maier, who is at 1,828; Lou Pena, who is just over the 1,800-win mark with 1,801; Gilbert Herrera, who is at the 1,605 plateau; and Rocky Stidham, with 1,359 victories on his resume.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Wednesday (October 17) continuing through Saturday. Post times are scheduled for 5:35 p.m. (PDT). On Wednesday, admission is free, plus Cal-Expo offers a complete lasagna dinner, with salad and bread, for just $3.00.