A pair of $50,000 USD California Sire Stakes championships for four-year-olds along with the Alan Horowitz Pace and Stan Bergstein Trot headline the final harness racing program at Cal Expo on Friday, May 2.
The California Exposition & State Fair Board announced last Friday that it has terminated the lease agreement with Watch and Wager, officially bringing harness racing operations at Cal Expo to a close at the end of this current season on May 2.
First post for the last 14-race Watch and Wager LLC program is 5:40 p.m., and there will be mandatory payouts for all wagers.
The distaff Sire Stakes is headed by the sensational Overthemoonforyou, who has won 13 of her 14 starts at the meet and is looking for a sweep of the big-money events for her division. He 11 wins in 2025 is the most by any Standardbred in all of North America. The four-year-old daughter of Karpathian Kid-Moon Rising carries the banner of Qks Racing, takes her lessons from Quentin Schneider and will once again have Aaron Lehman at the controls.
Celebrity Status, a Vlos-Wild About Eagle gelding who won three Sire Stakes legs in the male division, is looking to add the final while eyeing his fifth straight trip to the winner’s circle for owner/breeder Set The Pace Racing and driver/trainer Nick Roland.
Looking at the $30,000 USD Horowitz Pace, Allilthundadownunda and Its Pointless have gone several big miles here this season and loom the main rivals.
The $12,5000 USD Bergstein Trot is headed by Valottalove, who is coming off three straight victories at the head of the class, including the March 21 Gary Budahn for owner/driver/trainer John MacDonald.
Allmyxsliventexas, one of the most popular performers at Cal Expo over the last decade, will be calling it a career after his start in Friday evening’s seventh race. Owned and bred by Wayne Knittel and his late brother Rod and conditioned by Bob Johnson, the 12-year-old Hi Ho Silverheels-Annie Get Your Gun gelding comes into this assignment with 68 wins from his 224 starts and is on the verge of the $400,000 earnings plateau with a 1:50 mark that was established seven years ago at Hoosier Park.
The ninth race on Friday is named in honour of Walter Petersen, who passed away in December at the age of 78 after a lengthy career as a horseman and racing official. Petersen grew up in Michigan and after graduating from Florida Atlantic University, he joined the army and served in Vietnam. When he returned from Vietnam, he started his career in harness racing as an owner, driver and trainer, competing at tracks in Michigan, Maryland and Florida before settling in California. In 2005, Petersen took the position of paddock judge at Cal Expo while his wife Patty served as clerk of the course. He retired in 2022 due to health concerns.
(With files from Cal Expo)