by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Terence Ransom and Brandon Bragg are two of the more interesting owners on the Cal Expo grounds and both will be going for repeat trips to the winner’s circle on Saturday night (March 3) with Looking At You and Double Dakota, respectively.

Looking At You is an 8-year-old mare that is conditioned by Lester Smith and once again has Steve Wiseman giving directions, while Double Dakota is looking to make it five victories from his last six appearances for Bragg and co-owner KC Carvalho.

Terence Ransom is a 45-year-old Ohio native who was a professional basketball player in Europe and a coach for 11 years before retiring. Originally exposed to the game by his stepfather Holsey Rucker as a teenager, he kept in touch with the sport during his basketball days and then got back into it when spending some time with George Teague, Jr. three years ago.

“I came to California to be near my two children and made my way out to Cal Expo,” Ransom explained. “One night I found myself talking to Marco Rios, who invited me to come to his barn the next morning. It turned out to be much more than one day and I got a lot of hands-on experience with Marco.

“As far as Lester Smith is concerned, he’s been a second father to me, and you’re going to learn quite a bit just being around Steve Wiseman on a daily basis. It’s been a great time with this mare and it’s really a team effort.”

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Brandon Bragg is hoping for another snapshot with win machine Double Dakota. Bragg started coming to the track with Carvalho some three years ago when he started working for him.

“To be honest, at first I didn’t have much interest, but then I saved up some money to buy in for 10 percent on a horse and I really started to like it.”

It was Double Dakota who gave Bragg his first winner.

“He won that night even though he had a broken head pole,” he explained. “It was then that I realized winning a race as an owner is the ultimate high.”

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Friday (March 2) and Saturday (March 3) at 6 p.m. (PST).