Alien Art Form and What Cheer, impressive winners of the eliminations last week, head the cast for Friday night’s featured $16,200 USD final of the Steve Wiseman Memorial Pace at Cal Expo.

There will be eight races presented by Watch and Wager LLC on Friday with first post set for 6:45 p.m. The Wiseman final will take place in the fifth race.

A 1:57.3 elimination winner on Jan. 24, Alien Art Form earned his second win in three appearances at Cal Expo since returning from Alberta for driver, trainer and leasee Ryan Grundy. Despite some mid-race trouble, the four-year-old Outrageous Art-Imjusttaylormade gelding put in a determined stretch drive to prevail by a head over Semicolon and favourite Gandalf while pacing his final quarter in a sharp :27.1. 

What Cheer and driver James Kennedy posted a 23-1 upset in the other Wiseman elimination, overhauling the 1-9 pacesetting favourite, Sign Of The Time, for the 1:56.4 victory by 1-1/4 lengths. The six-year-old daughter of Marced Card is the only mare in the field as she competes for trainer Nick Roland and owners Royal and Roger Roland.

Sign Of The Times had his winning streak snapped at five last week and will be looking for some revenge. Trainer Rick Bertand and Ashlee Glader own the five-year-old Special Forces-Vy Hanover gelding while Mooney Svendsen drives.

Alien Art Form will start from the inside post position in the field of 10 lining up for the final with What Cheer next, as the connections of the elim winners were able to pick their posts, while 8-5 morning line favourite Sign Of The Times drew post six. Completing the field are Eagle Lands (post three), Gandalf (post four), Love To Flirt (post five), Semicolon (post seven), Search And Destroy (post eight), Bin A Mystery (post nine) and I Understand (post 10).

Grundy is hopeful he can work out a nice trip from the inside post with Alien Art Form.

“He’s nothing fancy, just a very nice horse who likes his work,” Grundy said of the Alberta Sire Stakes graduate bred and owned by Ashlee Sluggett of Red Deer, Alta. “He’s also comfortable on any size track.

“He didn’t race at two, then started here last season and won [a California] Sire Stakes. Pretty soon we’ll have those starting up again and our goal is to win that $50,000 race at the end of the meet.”

While Alien Art Form has used a strong late charge to win his two races at this stand, his mentor notes he’s versatile and has also prevailed on or near the front.

“He can get it done from everywhere, but with Sign Of The Times in the race Friday, I assume we’ll be in a tracking position.”

(With files from Cal Expo)