by Mark Ratzky, publicity department, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — Jam And Jelly and West Nile Skeeter, second and third at this level in their most recent attempts, and Writer, who is taking a drop in class for this assignment, loom as the major players in Wednesday’s (November 7) featured trot at Cal-Expo.

The $3,500 event is designed for performers who meet the conditions and are entered for base claiming tags of $15,000. A field of nine is set to face starter Bill Vallandingham.

Jam And Jelly is a 3-year-old Indiana-bred miss who goes about her business for Maurice Sigmon and Richard Reider, with George Reider the conditioner and Luke Plano in his usual spot in the sulky. She has posted seven wins and eight seconds from her 24 trips to the post this season.

Jam And Jelly registered her victories earlier in the season and has been settling for minor awards in her most recent outings. She sat the pocket and completed the exacta behind West Nile Skeeter two back, then had another tracking journey in her last tour and once again got the second money, finishing two lengths in front of West Nile Skeeter.

The latter is a daughter of Skeet Load who carries the D and E Racing banner with Rick Plano doing the driving and training. The bay mare won three of four starts after switching to that shedrow in October, including a 1:58.4 lifetime mark that she repeated twice more in front-end fashion.

Sent off the 2-1 choice in last week’s clash at this level, West Nile Skeeter sat the pocket to the final turn, rallied to a short lead in the stretch, but was no match late for the victorious K D Rowdy One and Jam And Jelly, while finishing three lengths back.

Writer has been knocking heads with tougher company and figures to be right at home in Wednesday’s contest. The Armbro Scribe homebred competes for Desomer Stables with Vickie Desomer calling the shots and Steve Desomer handling the lines.

Eight of her 25 starts have ended up in the charmed enclosure, with the most recent tally coming in coast-to-coast fashion on October 12. She has stepped up in company for her last three starts, coming away with a fourth and a pair of fifth-place finishes.

All aboard the Bal-Cal Express

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

The last three weeks have seen big payouts in the Bal-Cal, starting with the October 24 combination of cross-country winners that returned a healthy $2,760 for each correct $1 ticket. Two weeks ago, it was a payoff just shy of $2,000 for the right forecast.

It was the same story last Wednesday night, with a return of $1,960 in the wager, thanks in large part to a 16-1 upset by Diamondback Jack in the local finale. Owner Carey Jordan and driver/trainer Lemoyne Svendsen ended up in the winner’s circle with the 6-year-old son of Arizona Jack when all was said and done.

In addition to these recent sweet Bal-Cal returns, over the past season there have also been jackpots of $20,000, $19,000 and $18,000 for connecting the right four side-wheelers with just a $1 investment. Sounds like a plan! Post time for the first leg of the Bal-Cal Challenge will be at approximately 8:23 p.m. (PST).

Sires Stakes action heads up the weekend cards

Another round of Sires Stakes for the 3-year-old pacers and trotters is on tap Friday and Saturday, and there is one performer who will attempt to keep quite a streak alive.

The Desomer Stables’ Hitchiker has made a clean sweep of the nine big-money events for the trotting colts to this point, including a track record performance last season and a handy decision last week. He has truly proven to be in a class of his own when it comes to this group.

Looking at the other divisions, the trotting fillies have pretty much boiled down to See Through It and Tequila Top, while the pacing distaffers saw Holme Town Girl getting her initial stakes trophy two weeks ago in a very contentious line-up. Sintillating got her revenge over that rival in an Open affair last weekend and will be the likely favorite.

Among the pacing males, Rich And Roll will be trying for an encore after posting a decisive victory in last week’s stakes dance while lowering his lifetime standard to 1:53.3 in the process for owner Frank Nevarez, trainer Jose Ramirez and regular pilot Steve Wiseman. It was the 12th victory in 26 starts for the Nirvana offspring.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Wednesday (November 7) continuing through Saturday. Post times are scheduled for 5:35 p.m. (PST). On Wednesday, admission is free, plus Cal-Expo offers a complete lasagna dinner, with salad and bread, for just $3.00.