Overthemoonforyou will attempt to maintain a perfect California Sire Stakes record when she lines up behind the Cal Expo starting gate in the $20,000 USD leg for four-year-old pacing mares this Good Friday, April, 18.

First race post time for Friday's 11-race program is 6:45 p.m. with the Sire Stakes scheduled as the seventh race.

Overthemoonforyou is having a sensational season for trainer Quentin Schneider, who co-owns the Karpathian Kid-Moon Rise mare as part of Qks Racing. She is 10-for-11 this year including victories in the first three legs of the Sire Stakes. Looking for a sweep of the preliminary legs with regular reinsman Aaron Lehman, the streaking mare will start from the inside post as the even-money morning line favourite in the seven-horse field.

 Former Alberta Sires Stakes champions and current Cal Expo archrivals Graceful Horizon and Divine Art headline Friday night’s co-featured $12,500 USD Kirk Breed for Free-For-All distaff pacers which takes place just prior to the Sire Stakes as the sixth race.

Graceful Horizon, a seven-year-old daughter of Vertical Horizon and Gracie Montana, comes into the Breed having won six of her 11 starts on the season for driver/trainer Nick Roland and owner Set The Pacing Racing. After having to settle for minor awards behind Divine Art in three straight outings between March 15 and April 5, she got her revenge in last week’s Mares Open.

Graceful Horizon motored right to the front in that affair, was nicely rated by Roland and held safe by three quarters of a length over Divine Art in a season's best 1:53.3.

The latter is a six-year-old Outrageous Art-Keystone Devine mare, who is owned, trained and driven by Gerry Longo. Divine Art rattled off three straight impressive victories coming into last week’s Open, including wins in the Rod Knittel and Alan Kirschenbaum (in a season's best 1:52), that had the pace dynamics working against her in that last tour and went a big mile to complete the exacta.

Divine Art, at 6-5 on the morning line, has drawn the inside post position, while Graceful Horizon, at 7-5, will start from post three in the five-horse field.

Change in tactics pays off for Officer Jim

After three straight appearances where he motored right to the front, including a victory two starts back, some of Officer Jim’s backers last week may have been surprised when driver James Kennedy took the pacer back to next-to-last off the gate.

 The plan worked out to perfection, however, as Officer Jim was able to follow the live cover of favoured Unfiltered and motored home when it counted to post the 9-1 upset in a solid 1:53.1 mile, competing for a purse of $7,714.

The gelded son of American Ideal out of Freedom Crossing earned his 38th lifetime victory from 110 starts. He carries the banner of Debra McCarthy and hails from the Gordie Graham barn.

"What a great horse to be around," Graham noted after the victory. "I totally enjoyed watching him win from off the pace.

"After seeing him get [beat] the week before in the Open, I didn’t want to see him go down the road again. James ducked and the plan was to be pulled up into contention.”

Things crystalized when Unfiltered came out and Officer Jim was able to draft behind that foe until straightening for home. 

(With files from Cal Expo)