Louis will be seeking the hat trick when he heads the cast for Friday night’s featured $12,500 Joe Lighthill Free-For-All Trot at Cal Expo.
There will be nine races conducted under the Watch and Wager LLC banner beginning at 6:45 p.m., with the Lighthill Trot set as the sixth event.
Louis comes into the contest sporting back-to-back wins at the head of the class, getting the job done at 9-2 and 8-1, respectively. The six-year-old by Muscle Mass is owned by David Dobblemann, conditioned by Darryl Cutting and again has Jake Cutting in the sulky. He will leave from post four in the field of nine and is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
Louis came flying from well back to get it done in the Dec. 30 Open, then made a big first-over move to the stretch in the most recent clash two weeks ago and was able to hang a neck decision on a determined Silverhill Volo.
The latter goes from post five for owner/driver/trainer Chip Lackey and was a handy conditioned winner on Jan. 2 while taking his rivals coast-to-coast that evening. Silverhill Volo comes into this assignment with 40 wins from his 201 trips to the post with more than $275,000 in his bank account and a 1:55.1 lifetime mark.
Completing the field from the rail out are Pridecrest, Serene Hall, slight 3-1 favourite Mandeville, Peters Royalty and Help Page.
Friday night’s Joe Lighthill Trot and Sunday evening’s Dave Goldschmidt Pace are named for two important figures in California harness racing.
The Joe Lighthill Trot is named for the outstanding driver/trainer who was a mainstay in California for decades and passed away at the age of 78 in 2006. Lighthill, who began his career in the mid-1940s, drove 2,272 winners for purse earnings just shy of $7 million and reined and/or trained some of the most outstanding performers of their generation. Included in that illustrious group were Meadow Skipper, Countess Adios, Tender Loving Care, Hickory Pride, Peter Lobell, Try Scotch and BC Count.
Sunday night’s feature is named for Dave Goldschmidt, who passed away five years ago at the age of 62. Among Goldschmidt's extensive resume in the sport, he was racing secretary at Los Alamitos and Cal Expo and co-racing secretary at Bay Meadows, assistant racetrack manager at Hollywood Park and a founder, president and major financial backer of the Premier Harness Meet at Los Alamitos in the 1990s. Goldschmidt was there with money and his expertise at a time when harness racing was on the brink in California 30 years ago.
(With files from Cal Expo)