Mark Benvenga has been a harness fan for as far back as he can remember, and an owner since 2000, when he dipped into that end of the game at Indiana Downs.

The 51-year-old, who has been calling Gold River home for the last couple of years, has now added winning Cal-Expo owner to his resume after Stanza won his first start under the Benvenga banner with new driver/trainer Steve Wiseman.

“I grew up in New York and my dad used to take me to Yonkers and Roosevelt when I was a kid,” Benvenga related. “Then, I was a teenager when the Meadowlands opened up in 1976 and I got the chance to see some amazing horses like Niatross.”

Benvenga lived in Indiana for 18 years, and it was at the beginning of the new millennium when he bought his first performer with Mark Reisert.

“The first horse we had was Anxious Charlie and he’s my favorite so far. He won his second start for us and went on to win 14 of his next 35. In all, I guess I had about 25 horses between 2000 and 2008 and they were mostly claimers.”

When Benvenga moved to Sacramento, he was a regular at the track, but his daughter was attending a private school and the finances didn’t allow for the luxury of owning racehorses.

“This past July, the timing was right to slowly get back into it and my friend Robin Clements said that Paul Welence might be willing to sell Stanza. It didn’t come together at the time, but eventually I got with Steve Wiseman and ended up buying the horse, and he won his first start for us.”

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Thursday, November 11 and will continue through Saturday, November 13. First-race post time on Thursday and Friday is at 5:40 p.m. (PST). Approximate first-race post time on Saturday is 5:45 p.m. Carryover into Thursday's 50-cent minimum Pick-5 is $2,504.32.

Non on Saturdays, Cal-Expo offers a reduced 15 per cent takeout rate on both the Early and Late Pick-4 wagers with both Pick-4s now having a $10,000 gross-guaranteed pool.

(Cal-Expo)