$10,000 handicapping contest at Cal-Expo

The next two weeks at Cal-Expo will find Wednesday racing, and those two cards will feature qualifying rounds for the $10,000 Spring Harness Handicapping Challenge.  There will be no Thursday programs over the next two weeks, with the trotters and pacers in action on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the month.

The Handicapping contest will take place at participating California satellite wagering facilities, racetracks and casinos. Contestants will make selections in seven Cal Expo races, with the top 50-point earners for each qualifying round earning $50 wagering vouchers.

Those 100 players will then be eligible for the Friday, May 7 Spring Harness Handicapping Challenge finale.  That final round will find a $2,500 first prize, with $750 for second, $500 for third, $250 for fourth and $100 for the fifth through fourteenth finishers.

There is no entry fee and all fans 18 and older are eligible. Participating locations are Golden Gate Fields, San Mateo, Cal Expo, Stockton, Monterey, Barona, Pleasanton, Los Alamitos, Ventura, Bakersfield, Vallejo, Surfside Del Mar, Santa Rosa, Fairplex, Fresno Fair, Fresno Club One, National Orange Show, Viejas Casino and Turf Club and Commerce Casino.  Please contact your local wagering facility for more details.

To download free TrackMaster Platinum Past Performances (12 line) for Wednesday's program, go to www.trackmaster.com/calx

Wednesday’s (April 21) headliner is a $3,300 event for conditioned claiming pacers that brings out the likes of Got No Troubles, Stanza and Coal Younger and will go as the opener on a 12-race program.  Got No Trouble is coming off a solid runner-up effort at 15-1 behind Stop Calling for driver/trainer John Chappell under these same conditions, while Stanza was third in that race and Coal Younger tired as the 6-5 favorite.

This weekend will find the second round of Sire Stakes action for the 3-year-old trotters and pacers, with the fillies holding the spotlight on Friday (April 23) and the colts doing their thing on Saturday (April 24).

The first round of Spring big-money action saw three of the four big guns of their respective divisions flexing their muscles and earning additional added-money tallies, as One Hot Tamale, Frank’s Best and Dancing Barry each posed for pictures.  The only member of the winning foursome getting their initial stakes tally was Exquisite Gem, who accounted for the filly trot in an upset.
 
Haggin Oaks returns to the wars

Haggin Oaks, who sports a quartet of stakes trophies on the mantle, makes her 4-year-old debut in Wednesday night’s (April 22) ninth race for driver/trainer James Kennedy.  It will be her first evening appearance since mid-December.

The Hi Ho Silverheels offspring races for Shari Burns, Ferris Funk and Gerald Cimini and was something of a milestone for Kennedy, as she was not only his first stakes winner, but also his very first trainee.

Haggin Oaks hasn’t started since she caught a sloppy track for the Fall Championship and made a miscue. She prepped for her return with a solid qualifier last Thursday night (April 15), checking in second while coming her last quarter in a snappy :27.3 in that affair.

“She’s been back at the track for about two months,” Kennedy related.  “She’s matured and she’s calmer now.  That qualifier was just what she needed, and I have to like her chances on Wednesday.”

The stakes outings last season for this talented distaffer certainly resulted in a mixed bag.  Her wins were convincing, while a couple of her setbacks were of the heartbreaking variety due to circumstances that were beyond her control.

“She lost her chance in two of the last three stakes races,” her mentor noted.  “In that first November race, she had her legs cut out from under her at the start and was knocked off stride.  That last one in December, we caught a sloppy track and she doesn’t like that at all.”

Kennedy is hoping that Haggin Oaks is on the verge of having a great 4-year-old campaign, one that might even result in a trip back East if everything comes together just right.  That road begins in earnest on Wednesday. (Cal-Expo)