by Mark Ratzky, publicity department, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — With victories in four of the last six top dances for the trotting set, Oatmeister has established himself as the leader of the division. He’ll try to solidify that position when he leaves from the outside post in Wednesday night’s (April 4) $7,000 Invitational Trot at Cal-Expo.

A 5-year-old son of Conway Hall and the Super Bowl mare Orelle Hanover, Oatmeister goes about his business for Jessica Hensley and Weaver Bruscemi Llc, with Ed Hensley doing the driving and training. He has clicked in five of his 11 starts on the year, sports a 1:55.1 mark, and is looking to add to a $118,000 bank account.

After taking the measure of conditioned foes on February 7, the diminutive side-wheeler returned to the Invite ranks the following week and pulled off a 5-1 upset while accomplishing the score in game, first-over fashion that evening. He just missed to Desperatehousewife at next asking after making the lead in the stretch.

Oatmeister returned to his winning ways in the March 8 Invitational, as he sat back early, rallied boldly three-wide off the final bend and blew by the leaders for a 2-1/4 length tally for Hensley. He had a tough trip as the favorite in his next tour and had to settle for a minor award.

Two weeks ago, he made what proved to be the winning move to the lead before the half and never looked like a loser after arriving in the stretch with a two length advantage. In last week’s get-together at the top rung, Hensley used his charge early to eventually land in the two hole behind Desperatehousewife. They tracked to the drive, then came home smartly to prove clearly best in another solid performance.

“It wasn’t a tough lead as I didn’t use him that hard, but the headwind in his face up the backside wasn’t to his advantage,” Ed related after the score. “When we were covered up, I thought things were going well — as I liked my position and chances.

“His bread and butter is trotting on home, and even though I used him a little early, he responded very well when I put the whip on him. I was in control and knew the race was over. It was just a matter of waiting for the wire. He was very impressive once again,” his mentor concluded.

Celebrity Surfer completed the exacta last week and may prove the main threat once again. John Stephenson owns this son of Meadowbranch Mike with Richard Dunneback training and Rich Wojcio once again handling the lines. He had little trouble overpowering a conditioned field two back, then put in a good tour when returning to this top league last time.

Rounding out the field are I’m Dam Goog, who gives the Hensley barn two looks at the outcome and will have Gilbert Herrera guiding from the rail; Desperatehousewife with Tim Maier; Benn’s Fire for Bruce Clarke; Iverman with Rocky Stidham; and Phipps, who will be handled by Lou Pena.

Wednesday night means Bal-Cal time

It’s hard to get much value for a buck these days, but one of the exceptions is the Bal-Cal Pick 4 Challenge here on Wednesday nights. The $1 wager combines two races (races 10 and 11) from Balmoral Park in Chicago, and two from Cal-Expo (races 10 and 11), and comes attached with a $25,000-guaranteed pool.

There were jackpots last fall of $20,000, $19,000 and $18,000 for correctly forecasting the cross-country winners in this sequence, and for a little help in putting together a ticket we went to Roger McDow. In addition to being an owner and breeder, Roger is one of the sharpest handicapper/bettors we know.

“I look at the Bal-Cal the same way I would any other Pick 4,” he began. “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 horses who have a chance, and then the ones I would consider to be toss outs. As far as singles go, if you seen an obvious one, that’s probably the single everybody else has. There’s no value to 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, for me, the key is to look at each of the races individually before even considering how much I’m going to spend on a ticket. I write everything down and then I do go back and try to build the best ticket I can. For sure, I’m never going to play one that has too many short prices and could actually come back less than the amount I’m investing.”

Post time for the first leg of the Bal-Cal Challenge will be at approximately 8:27 p.m. (PDT).

Live racing resumes tonight (Wednesday) at Cal-Expo, continuing through Saturday. Post time each night is at 5:35 p.m. (PDT). On Wednesday, admission is free, plus Cal-Expo offers a complete Lasagna dinner, with salad and bread, for just $2.00.

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