$50,000 finals, mandatory payouts at Cal Expo

Two $50,000 Sire Stakes Championship events for the 4-year-old harness racing pacers and mandatory payouts get the marquee treatment on Sunday evening’s (Apr. 30) closing night program at Cal Expo Harness.

Watch and Wager LLC will present eight races and things get underway at 6 p.m.

JP Jetty and Worthy Opponent have accounted for the last two stakes dances for the males, while Give Me This Dance and Divine Art will renew their rivalry in the contest for the mares.

Give Me This Dance is a homebred daughter of Wind Me Up who carries the banner of Alan and Cheryl Sandbulte, takes her lessons from Jose Castillo and will once again have Luke Plano in the sulky.

While she has had to settle for runner-up finishes behind arch rival Divine Art in the last three stakes dances for the division, she has been able to turn the tables on that one in an Open on March 5 and most recently two weeks ago in the Kirk Breed Free-For-All.

Sent off the 5-2 second choice in that event, Give Me This Dance sat a perfect pocket trip behind Wonder Of Love, then surged in the stretch to win going away by two and a half lengths while establishing a new mark with the excellent 1:51 final clocking.

Dive Art had a tough trip in the Breed and looms large for owner/driver/trainer Gerry Longo.The Outrageous Art mare had a 17-race winning streak going into March, had it snapped by Give Me This Dance but then showed the way home over that foe in consectuve outings in the Alan Kirschenbaum and a pair of Sire Stakes.

Looking at the other contest, JP Jetty was sharp capturing the most recent stakes on April 9 for Qks Racing, trainer Quentin Schneider and pilot Mel Mullet, while Worthy Opponent has multiple trophies on his mantle for owner/breeder Wayne Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson and pilot Luke Plano and deserves plenty of respect.

This being closing night, there will be mandatory payouts in all wagers.

A reminder that three of these bets come with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the 20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4, with the latter featuring a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool.

Schneider, Plano makes runaway of titles

Luke Plano and Quentin Schneider will cruise to the wire Sunday as the leading driver and trainer, respectively, at the meet.

Plano came into this final week holding an 18-length lead over Mooney Svendsen, who is himself having a fine stand, while the Schneider barn enjoyed a great session and has 16 more wins than Bob Johnson with the final two cards coming up.

Luke will be adding yet another leading driver trophy to his resume and noted, “I’ve had more of my own horses than I’ve ever had before and I’ve been fortunate to get some very live catch drives.”

Plano was on fire last Sunday night, posing for snapshots following five of the nine races, including victories in the Stan Bergstein Trot for Gerry Longo and the 3-year-old Sire Stakes Final for the fillies with Cenalta Token for Gordon Empey.

Schneider has made a steady string of trips to the charmed enclose at this session and locked up his title some time ago.

by Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harnesslink