The $10,000 Dave Goldschmidt Free-For-All Pace will be featured Friday night (Dec. 10) at Cal Expo, with Allmyxsliventexas getting the top billing while leaving from the cozy rail slot in the field of nine.
Watch and Wager LLC has carded 10 races Friday night with things getting underway at 6:45 p.m. The co-feature is a $5,300 Open III Pace for fillies and mares that finds Life Isa Shortwalk eyeing her third straight victory after capturing last week’s Bill Vallandingham Pace.
Allmyxsliventexas had a brutal trip as the 1-5 favourite last week in a conditioned event and will be looking to rebound in the Goldschmidt as he goes from the outside to the inside post for this outing.
The Hi Ho Silverheel’s homebred races for Wayne and Rod Knittel, is conditioned by Bob Johnson and Nick Roland has the return drive.
Allmyxsliventexas comes into this assignment with 51 wins from his 154 appearances, almost $282,000 in his bank account and a 1:50 career standard that was established at Hoosier Park over a sloppy track three years ago.
The Knittel colour-bearer scored a coast-to-coast decision two weeks ago and held safe gamely that evening in his return from Chicago, then was parked the mile from the outside in last week’s tour through rapid fractions and gave way.
Taking him on Friday are a trio from the Kathie Plested barn in Dislocator, Bombay Hanover and Thisishowedoit; the Gerry Longo reined-and-trained A Major Omen; Nathalie Tremblay’s Buddys Hope; Its Pointless and Contemporary Legend from the Gordie Graham shedrow; and the Rick Bertrand-conditioned Frewil Dakota Sven.
There are two carryovers on Friday night’s program – a $3,525 carryover in the Pick 6 and a $3,980 carryover in the Hi-Five – with a $10,000 guranteed pool for the Pick 6 and a $12,500 guaranted pool on the Hi-Five.
The Pick 6 is a 20-cent wager that begins on the fourth race, while the Hi-Five is conducted on the 10th and final contest and is also a 20-cent bet.
This week’s feature races are named in honour of longtime racing official and California harness booster Dave Goldschmidt and the outstanding driver/trainer Joe Lighthill.
Joe Lighthill, who passed away at age 78 in 2006, was a mainstay in the Golden State for decades and one of the most respected horsemen to ever compete in the sport.
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.
Dave Goldschmidt, who passed away in July 2018, was born in New York City and developed a passion for harness racing in his early teens.
He attended the University of Denver where he was a sportswriter on the newspaper, but after hearing about the new Race Track Management Program at the University of Arizona, he knew he had to transfer to that school and was in that first graduating class.
Goldschmidt 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.
(With files from Cal Expo)