by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Scott Cisco has only driven Jessie Pacheco’s pacing mare Sleigh Belle three times, the last two resulting in come-from-behind victories at 25-1 and 6-1, respectively.

Sleigh Belle was fourth in their initial teaming on April 22 at Cal Expo after making a first-over bid, sat a perfect tracking trip at next asking and came home in a hurry to post the upset, then found the inside to be a very friendly place in the stretch last week and scooted through for another snapshot.

“What I learned the first time I drove her is that she doesn’t want to come first over with these mares,” Cisco related. “The last two races I’ve tried to trip out with her, and fortunately it’s worked out.

“In the race two back, I used her a little bit to keep the three hole, we tracked to the stretch and she gave me a real nice kick in the stretch. As far as being 25-1 that night, I don’t pay any attention to the toteboard.”

Sleigh Belle came back against many of the same rivals in last week’s assignment, dropping to 6-1 in the eyes of the betting public. Last of the half-dozen turning for home, she found clear sailing along the pylons when it counted and came a sparkling :26.3 final quarter to be up by three-quarters of a length.

“It looked like Rick Plano had the two speeds in the field, so I was just going to sit back and wait,” Cisco said. “I ended up following out the favorite going to the last turn, but when she stalled, I didn’t have much option other than to go back to the inside. It turned out to be a good move, because it opened up perfectly in the stretch and she gave me another real nice finish. It’s been a good meet, and sometimes things just work out that way.”

Pick 4 holding Thursday night spotlight at Cal Expo

Through the end of the current meet, Thursday nights feature a reduced 15 percent takeout on the two Pick 4 wagers here at Cal Expo, with the Late Pick 4 coming with a $10,000 guaranteed gross pool.

It was huge balloons in both of the Pick 4s last Thursday, as the first one returned a healthy $3,257, while only one ticket was able to isolate the winning combination in the Late Pick 4, returning a whopping $9,806 for the sequence.

Last week’s initial Pick 4 actually included a heavy favorite in Got The Giggles, with the heavy lifting coming at the hands of Bobby Baccala at $39 and Sleigh Belle, who made it two in a row and returned $14 to her backers.

It was obvious the Late Pick 4 was going skyward early on, as Red Star Tweedy gave Vancouver’s David McKellar his first Cal Expo victory at 21-1. Star Time Kid followed at even money, but the prices returned with Ailene’s Prince ($24) and Badger Creek ($38) getting the job done.

Will there be more fireworks this week? Racing secretary Fred Kuebler does his best to put the fullest and most contentious races in these slots, hoping for some prices that make jumping into these pools very enticing.

Live racing resumes at Cal Expo on Thursday (May 12) and continues through Saturday (May 14). Post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday and Saturday is 6 p.m.