A Major Omen and Dancin Lance, who have been putting on some terrific battles at this meet, get another chance to settle the score in the $10,000 Lloyd Arnold Free-For-All Pace on Sunday (April 24) at Cal Expo.
The main event headlines a nine-race Watch and Wager LLC program with first post set for the 5:45 p.m. The co-feature is the $10,000 Distance Divas for pacing fillies and mares going a mile and one-half.
A Major Omen is a six-year-old son of Art Major who is owned and trained by Gerry Longo and will have Nick Roland guiding. He comes into this race with 19 wins from his 83 starts, a $205,000 bank account and a 1:49.2 career standard that was established two years ago at The Meadowlands.
He turned in a super effort in last week’s Open to prevail by a half-length over a gutsy Dancin Lance and it will be interesting to see how things shake out in this rematch with A Major Omen in the No. 2 post while Dancin Lance lands outside in the field of six.
The latter is a six-year-old son of Always A Virgin who carries the banner of Juan Pacheco, takes his lessons from Leon Smith and will have Cordarius Stewart doing the honours.
He rattled off three straight Open scores between February 27 and March 18, putting his versatility on display, then lost a heartbreaker last week after carving out much of the pace. He’s looking for his 14th victory from 97 trips to the post.
Completing the Arnold field are Hoo Nein, Bombay Hanover, Its Pointless and Officer Jim.
Pair of unique events spice up action
The $10,000 Distance Divas for pacing fillies and mares at a mile and one-half and the $5,000 Double Down Invite that finds trotters facing pacers are two of the more interesting contests on the Sunday program at Cal Expo.
A field of seven will line up for the Distance Divas and you can make a pretty good case for each of the seven participants as they will all be making their initial attempt at this elongated journey.
Luke Plano will have a solid pair representing his shedrow in Brooklyn Wind Up and Brooklyn Moonshine, with the former coming off a dominating victory with Nick Roland and the latter fresh from a troubled trip at most recent asking.
Meanwhile, two trotters and four pacers will square off in the Double Down Invite and this is another event that should give handicappers a little something extra to think about.
The two trotters, Jesses Student and Trotterlicious, have been assigned the inside posts and should appreciate getting away from the likes of Pridecrest, Mandeville and Silverhill Volo.
Natives Best Bet would appear to be the best of the four pacers, coming off a solid show finish in first-over fashion for owner Heather Wright, trainer Earl Kennedy and pilot James Kennedy.
The feature on the evening is the $10,000 Lloyd Arnold Free-For-All, which brings together the top pacers on the grounds and is named for the noted owner and track operator of the highest caliber who passed away in 2012 at the age of 83.
(Cal Expo)