Curtain falls on Cal Expo meeting

Pridecrest and Mandeville, who have put on some great battles at this meet, get one more chance to square off before the Cal Expo Harness session ends when they head the field in Sunday evening’s $7,150 Pierre Girard Memorial Trot.

There will be eight races presented under the Watch and Wager LLC banner on this final night of the meeting with first post set for 5:45 p.m. and mandatory payouts in all wagers.

Pridecrest and Mandeville have divided up the two main races for the trotters at this stand, with Pridecrest accounting for the Budahn three weeks ago while Mandeville was victorious over his arch-rival in the March 11 Gary Budahn.

Pridecrest is a son of Angus Hall who races for Chris Schick with Kathie Plested the conditioner and Mooney Svendsen in his usual spot in the sulky. He is eying his 51^st lifetime score from 203 starts with $440,000 in the bank and a 1:53 2/5 mark.

Mandeville is owned and trained by Gerry Longo and will have Luke Plano giving directions. He has posed for pictures following six of his nine starts on the year, including a game victory in the Budahn, and is looking to add to a $363,000 bankroll with a 1:54 lifetime standard.

Rounding out the field are the Chip Lackey reined-and-trained Silverhill Volo and Major Al-Mar, who hails from the Rick Bertrand barn and will have Cordarius Stewart in the sulky.

The evening figures to get off to a fast start with Senga Nightmare, fresh from making a clean sweep of the California Sires Stakes at this meet for the 4-year-old pacing mares, heading the field of conditioned distaffers.

Race honors memory of Pierre Girard

Sunday night’s feature is named for Pierre Girard, the owner/driver/trainer who passed away last July at the age of 77 after a battle with cancer.

Pierre was an accomplished jazz musician in his native Montreal before he purchased a farm and fell in love with the two trotters he inherited.

“It progressed to the point where he began driving and training in Montreal in the 1980s,” related his partner of 13 years, Mary Harris. “He always wanted to come to California and eventually started racing at Los Alamitos and here at Cal Expo.”

Harris and Girard campaigned a number of very popular performers over the years, including Lodi Machete, Lodi Darion Blues, Lodi Phillip and Deltabreezeoflodi.

They supplied Mary and Pierre with several California Sire Stakes trophies and some great memories.

“Pierre’s passion was the trotters, and he really enjoyed the entire process from breaking the babies to the racing,” Harris noted. “He also did all his own shoeing, which is very important with the trotters.”

Sunday is closing night of the meet, which means mandatory payouts in all wagers. Racing is scheduled to return on Friday, November 18 with an increased stakes schedule and a raise in purses which has already been approved.

By Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harness