California Sire Stakes underway at Cal Expo

Chase The Gold, who has recorded six straight wins at the meet; and the invading Alilthundadownunda, a winner of 17 of 23 starts last year, head the harness racing cast in Sunday night’s $20,000 California Sire Stakes for the 4-year-old pacing colts at Cal Expo.

The headliner is scheduled as the sixth event on a 12-race Watch and Wager LLC card gets underway at 5 p.m.

Chase The Gold is a son of Mystery Chase who carries the banner of Qks Racing, is conditioned by Quentin Schneider and will have James Kennedy handling the lines.

The ultra-sharp pacer accounted for the Donald Arnstine Final on December 3 for his second win during this streak, then made it a half-dozen in a row last week when he proved a punctual favorite in the Steve Wiseman Final in a powerful performance.

In the process, he established a new lifetime mark with the 1:52 4/5 clocking while showing the way home with two and three-quarter lengths to spare.

Alilthundadownunda is the wild card in the line-up for Set The Pace Racing LLC and driver/trainer Nick Roland as he makes his first start since early October after having an outstanding 3-year-old campaign in his native Minnesota.

Taking them on this weekend are Believe In Dragons, a second Schneider trainee; SD Watch Me Now, who gives Roland two looks at the outcome; the Bob Johnson-trained Arnie’s Army and Cenalta Firedragon from the Gordon Empey barn.

California Sire Stakes action in full swing

This week marks the return of a remodeled $385,000 Sire Stakes program that will feature a total of 20 events for the 3 and 4-year-old pacers

Under legislation that was passed in 2017, eligible horses can now come from California, Minnesota, Michigan, Alberta, Wisconsin, Iowa and Maine

There will be a total of four $20,000 contests for the 4-year-old fillies and a like number of $20,000 events for the 4-year-old males, with $50,000 finals for both divisions set for the week of April 15.

Meanwhile, on February 18 the 3-year-olds will get their initial Sire Stakes opportunity. The first round of events for those pacing colts and fillies will be worth $7,500 and will be followed by four $15,000 contests for each of those divisions.

A reminder there are three wagers offered here each night that come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate.

They are the 20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4, with the latter featuring a $30,000-guaranteed gross pool on Fridays and a $20,000 guarantee on Sundays.

To give you some ideal of the value added, check out last Friday night’s late Pick 5 that saw wins by 4-5 shot Go With Flo, the 1-2 Hi Ho’s Little Rev and 7-5 Gorgeous For Real, but still returned a nifty $550 for each correct 20-cent ticket thanks in part to that reduced takeout rate.

By Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harness