A $20,000 California Sire Stakes headed by The Minnesota Kid and the $12,500 Rod Knittel DHA Free-for-All pace for fillies and mares featuring Graceful Horizon share the spotlight Saturday night at Cal Expo.
Watch and Wager LLC will present 10 races with first post set for 6:35 p.m.
Graceful Horizon is a 7-year-old daughter of Vertical Horizon who carries the banner of Set The Pace Racing LLC and is reined and trained by Nick Roland. She has 40 wins from her 103 starts with a 1:51 2/5 mark set here last year.
Graceful Horizon rattled off four straight victories between January 18 and February 21, including a victory in the Joe Alto Memorial, and is coming off near miss to Crazy Cute in last week’s Distaff Open.
Divine Art was a solid third in that affair in a race she likely needed for owner/driver/trainer Gerry Longo. She is looking for her 28th lifetime snapshot from 104 trips to the post with $419,000 in her bank account.
Looking at the Sire Stakes, The Minnesota Kid is a son of Karpathian Kid who races for Stephanie Ann Longo, is conditioned by Jose Castillo and will have Luke Plano at the helm.
Sent off at even-money in the first Sire Stakes of the season, he went right to the front for Plano and wasn’t asked for his best as he reported to the wire with a length and a half to spare.
