The field for Cal Expo's $13,800 USD final of the Will Meyers Memorial Pace is set for Friday, Jan. 3, headlined by elimination winners Sign Of The Times, who has won his three races at the meet by a combined 35 lengths, and Canadian invader Alien Art Form.
First post for the Watch and Wager LLC program will be 6:45 p.m.
Sign Of The Times is a five-year-old son of Special Forces who has absolutely obliterated the competition in his three appearances at this meet for trainer Rick Bertrand and co-owner Ashlee Glader with Mooney Svendsen along for the ride. He crushed conditioned foes by 13 and 12 lengths in his first two Cal Expo starts then captured his $7,143 Meyers elimination by just shy of 10 lengths in 1:57.3 over the 'good' track conditions last Friday, Dec. 27.
Alien Art Form, a four-year-old Alberta-bred son of Outrageous Art, won the other Meyers elimination in his Cal Expo return and timed it just right for owner, trainer and driver Ryan Grundy to hang a half-length decision on 1-2 favourite JK Parcells in 1:59.4 in that affair.
Sign Of The Times is the 2-1 morning line favourite and will start from post four in the seventh race Meyers final, with Alien Art Form just one spot over to his right in the nine-horse field.
There are three wagers on Friday night with a reduced 16 per cent takeout rate: the 20-cent Pick 5 and the 20-cent early and late Pick 4, with a $15,000 guaranteed gross pool on the Pick 5 and a $20,000 guarantee on the late Pick 4. The Pick 4 is part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program.
Chambers Credits Competition For All Champy
Admiration for the popular trotter Pridecrest provided the inspiration for owner Steve Chambers to currently campaign one of the top side-wheelers on the Cal Expo grounds in All Champy.
In last Friday's $11,000 Open Trot, the Kathie Plested trainee tracked favourite Lous Lancelot to the stretch, took over when that one made a break and went on to a clear-cut victory in 2:00.3 with Nick Roland in the sulky. It was the 44th lifetime score from 221 starts for the then 10-year-old Explosive Matter gelding.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Pridecrest,” related Chambers. “I knew that Gilbert Herrera was planning to retire and I asked him if he could find me a top trotter big enough for me to drive before he left the East Coast racing scene.
“My dream was to drive in the Open Trot every week against Pridecrest and Gilbert sent us a very big, very classy, but also rather difficult guy, in All Champy.
“Kathie did an outstanding job getting him to win the Wiseman Trot at Running Aces this summer. It was a highlight of my time as an owner, and he was masterfully handled by Mooney Svensden.“
After finishing a solid second to Lous Lancelot during opening week in his first start in nearly three months, All Champy was ready to rock and roll last week with Roland doing the honours for the 2-1/4-length victory over stablemate Pridecrest.
“Kathie said I’m not ready to get in the bike yet, but I’m pleased we have Nick handling the lines,” added Chambers.
In other highlights from the weekend, Alexia Kehl recorded her first pari-mutuel driving victory with her trotter Serene Hall winning by five lengths in 2:01.3 on Saturday, Dec. 28. Kehl had just eight prior winning drives at Minnesota and Wisconsin fair tracks.
(With files from Cal Expo)