El Azteca, who has been having some great battles with Its Not Over at the head of the class at Cal Expo this season, will get away from his rival this Friday (February 13). He looms as the one to beat in the program’s $5,000 Open II Handicap Trot.
A 10-race card is on tap Friday night. First-race post time will be 6:40 p.m. The headliner will go as the third race on the program with a companion $5,000 Open II Handicap Pace occupying the fourth-race slot on the evening.
In an attempt to level out the playing field for the featured trot, the track’s racing secretary, Robin Schadt, has assigned El Azteca Post 10. Winsom Kelly, Flight Of The Kiwi, A Crown For Lindy and Silence Son are also scheduled to contest the dash.
El Azteca is a six-year-old son of Panama Hanover that is out of the Jonathan Lobell mare Jonathans Girl. El Azteca is owned, trained and was bred by Marco Rios. Regular driver James Kennedy is scheduled to drive El Azteca on Friday.
El Azteca heads into Friday’s assignment with $140,000 in his bank account and a mark of 1:54.3 that was taken last year at Hoosier Park. He won half of his 18 trips to the post last season and is perfect in four appearances this year.
After starting from Post 10 last week, El Azteca settled in the back of the six-horse field for the first half of the race. He was out and moving on the final bend and ignited when he was asked, responding with a :27.2 final quarter. He went on to win by a half-length over his archrival, Its Not Over.
Jackpot 6 Carryover Among Reduced Takeout Bets
A $34,889 Jackpot 6 carryover awaits Cal Expo’s Friday night players, with that bet being one of four wagers on the program that comes with a reduced 16 per cent takeout rate.
The other wagers with the lower takeout are the Hi-5, which, like the Jackpot 6, is a 10-cent minimum bet; the 50-cent Pick 5; and the 20-cent Pick 4, which comes with a $25,000-guaranteed pool.
The Jackpot 6 finds 70 per cent of the net pool paying out to tickets with the most winners and with 30 per cent of the net pool designated for the carryover.
If there is one unique ticket selecting six winners, the entire net pool and the carryover is paid to the holder of the ticket. If that should happen Friday night, they would receive the entire net pool and a cool $34,889 as a bonus.
The 50-cent Pick 5 on last Sunday’s program returned a healthy $6,975 for a 50-cent investment. The reduced takeout resulted in each ticket being worth $748 more than the $6,227 it would have paid with the regular takeout rate.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s program, there will be a $10,000 California Sire Stakes for the three-year-old pacing colts headed by Hi Hos Little Rev and Uringoodhands and an Open I Pace that has lured Windsong Jack, A Real Miracle, China King, J C Onthebeach and St Lads Lotto.
Cal Expo officials have also announced that for the next two weeks, the trotters and pacers will be in action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, Feb 13-15 and 20-22.
(With files from Cal Expo)