Guarantees galore on Friday night

Friday night’s program at Cal Expo will feature a Pick 7 carryover of $15,090 with a $35,000-guaranteed gross pool, along with guaranteed pools in both the Pick 5 and the late Pick 4.

The Pick 5 will offer a $20,000 guarantee while the late Pick 4 comes with a $25,000 guarantee and all Pick 4s and Pick 5s at Cal Expo feature a reduced 16 percent takeout rate.

The early and late Pick 4, Pick 5 and Pick 7 are 20-cent wagers and free past performances for the Pick 5 and the late Pick 4 are available at handicapping.ustrotting.com, courtesy of the USTA Strategic Wagering Alliance.

Sire Stakes heads Friday evening’s action

The first California Sire Stakes of the year is on tap Friday night at Cal Expo with the colt and gelding pacers vying for a $20,000 purse.

The main event will be the fourth on a nine-race card and first post is set for 6:45p.m.

Alien Art Form is a son of Outrageous Art who is owned, trained and driven by Ryan Grundy and already has Sire Stakes trophies on his mantle from last season.

He recorded his most recent victory two back in one of the elimination heats for the Steve Wiseman Memorial, then had a rough trip in last week’s final and finished off the board behind favored Sign Of The Times.

Search And Destroy was a solid third in the Wiseman final and looms a major player for Set The Pace Racing LLC and driver/trainer Nick Roland

He captured a conditioned race here on January 18 with a powerful burst turning for home and sports a 1:55 lifetime standard that was established last year at Running Aces.

Taking on this pair are Sylvester, Bro Hug, Rocklikehurricane, Celebrity Status and Senga Napalm.

Looking ahead to Saturday, the 4-year-old fillies will be in Sire Stakes action with Over Ice and Overthemoonforyou heading the cast.

Silverhill Volo still has winning spirit

Score one for the senior citizens as the 14-year-old trotter Silverhill Volo was guided to victory last week by his 72-year-old owner/driver/trainer Chip Lackey.

“I’ve had him for about seven years now,” Lackey related after last week’s score.

“He’s bred to be a good one. He’s by Muscle Hill and his dam was well-bred and won the Hambletonian Oaks.”

It was the 44th lifetime score for the gelding, who has become a mainstay at this track for the past several seasons, putting his career bank account at just shy of $300,000.

Silverhill Volo may not be the same force he once was, but a drop into conditioned company proved the winning formula last week while having no trouble with the sloppy going.

Lackey was parked to the two hole past the quarter with his veteran performer, was out to command on the final bend and went on to a handy two and a half-length score while returning $16 to his backers.

Silverhill Volo and Lackey will be back in action in Friday evening’s third race.

Overthemoonforyou, Over Ice clash in Saturday’s Sire Stakes

Over Ice, an accomplished invader; and Overthemoonforyou, who has been sensational at this meet, get the top billing in Saturday night’s $20,000 California Sire Stakes for the 4-year-old pacing fillies.

Watch and Wager LLC will present 10 races with first post set for 6:45 p.m. and the Sire Stakes goes as the fifth contest on the program.

Over Ice is by Custard The Dragon and is owned and was bred by the J J J Stables with Gordie Graham training and Nick Roland guiding.

The dark-hued miss has won half of her 22 lifetime appearances with multiple stakes trophies on her mantle and has posted a pair of double-digit qualifying wins here over the last two weeks to prepare.

Overthemoonforyou is a daughter of Karpathian Kid who is owned by Qks Racing, takes her lessons from Quentin Schneider and will once again have Aaron Lehman in the sulky.

The bay miss is seeking her sixth straight victory and her seventh snapshot from eight starts at this meet, each of those tallies coming in stylish fashion.

Overthemoonforyou captured the Jack Williams final two weeks ago, proving a punctual 2-5 favorite that evening in coast-to-coast fashion. She came back last week to handle a conditioned field by three lengths while racing over a sloppy track.

Completing the field are Apple Juice, TJB Secreharriet, Senorita Draco, Another Tuff Woman and Little Miss Boss.

Aaron Lehman making presence felt

Aaron Lehman is making a very nice impression in the sulky here, including winning six of seven starts with Kim and Quentin Schneider’s pacing distaffer Overthemoonforyou.

A 22-year-old Wisconsin native, Aaron grew up in Amish country and wasn’t introduced to harness racing until four years ago.

“I was hauling some horses here for Mel Mullet, and that’s when I met Kim and Quentin,” Lehman explained. “They’ve been excellent teachers.”

Aaron started at the bottom and worked his way up for the Schneiders, with his first drive coming on the Wisconsin fair circuit two years ago.

He made an immediate impression at this meet when he guided Overthemoonforyou to a 45-1 upset for the Schneiders on opening night. Five more wins from the last six starts have followed, including the Jack Williams Final last month.

“She’s been unexpected and awesome,” her pilot related. “That first drive I had no idea what to expect, but she just took off at the half.”

Overthemoonforyou crushed them in the Jack Williams Prep and Final, going coast-to-coast in the latter under confident handling from her young companion. A conditioned victory followed last week over a sloppy track for this dynamic duo.