Silverhill Volo atop Sunday Cal Expo marquee

Silverhill Volo, beaten a head in last week’s Joe Lighthill by track record-holder Pridecrest, looms the overwhelming favorite from the rail in Sunday evening’s featured $5,800 harness racing conditioned trot at Cal Expo Harness.

A 10-race card will be presented by Watch and Wager LLC with first post at 5 p.m. The card will also feature second and final leg of eliminations for next week’s Alan Horowitz Memorial.

Silverhill Volo will be making his third start since returning from Chicago and appears to hold quite an advantage in the field of six with owner/driver/trainer Chip Lackey at the controls from the cozy inside slot.

The veteran trotter put in a huge try over a sloppy track in last week’s Lighthill, carving out the fractions and then putting on quite a battle with heavily favored Pridecrest to lose a heartbreaker while finishing more than a half-dozen lengths ahead of the rest of the cast.

This 10-year-old Muscle Hill gelding is eying his 30th career snapshot from 155 trips to the post and is working his way to the $200,000 earnings plateau with a 1:55 1/5 mark that was recorded in Pennsylvania six years ago.

Mandeville was up for third in the Lighthill and figures to move forward off that effort as it was his first since returning from Oak Grove and he had the outside post that evening. Gerry Longo owns trains and drives the 9-year-old gelding, who has $334,000 in his account and a 1:54 career standard.

Rounding out the field are Hypocrisy, Boaster Coaster, Major Al-Mar and Jesse’s Student.

Mandatory payouts, low takeout wagers

In addition to the three low-takeout wagers, there will be mandatory payouts for all bets on Sunday evening.

The three reduced 16% takeout wagers are the 20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4, with a $25,000-guaranteed pool on the latter.

To give you some idea of the value attached, last Sunday’s 20-cent Pick 5 returned a healthy $1,575, despite the fact that the sequence featured a 1-9 favorite in Joe Lighthill Trot hero Pridecrest and even-money Northbrook Ron, who accounted for one of the Alan Horowitz Memorial eliminations.

Things are heating up for next Sunday’s $20,000 Alan Horowitz Final with leg 2 of the elimination heats occupying the first and seventh race slot on the program.

The first division will find two of last week’s three Horowitz victors squaring off with Gear Upn Go Moe doing battle with Northbrook Ron, while the second division is headed by last week’s coast-to-coast victor Frisky Pedro.

Happy Holidays from Cal Expo! Racing resumes Sunday, December 26

By Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harness