Cal Expo Pick 4

There is another $10,000 guaranteed Pick 4 pool tonight at Cal Expo (races 6-9) and the Amateur Handicapper is still in search of his first Pick 4 of the season. Last night at Northfield got off to a promising start when Native Flower came home to win at 7-1 odds in the eighth race. (I picked the horse when it was at 4-1 odds in the morning line. Nice overlay.)

But things went quickly south. My favorite horse in the ninth, Shark Lover, was a scratch ("sick") and my other option, Goin Home Ray, lost by a neck.

Easy come, easy go.

In the sixth at Cal Expo the favorite is Cash Allowance at 8-5. The brown gelding has won four of his last eight and is dropping down in class to $2,400 from recent races at $2,900 and $3,400. But the Amateur Handicapper is leaning towards Long Last Look at 7-2 and coming off a blistering 1:54.4 win in the heady company of $4,000 claimers. Can't imagine we'll get odds as good as 7-2 on a horse who has won six of eight but he certainly must be on our Pick 4 card.

At 3-1, Shoot the Works is also hard to resist. With Luke Plano in sulky, Shoot the Works clocked in at 1:53.3 in January victory and has been solid all season long. He hasn't finished worse than third in his last eight races.

Call it a gut call, but the Amateur Handicapper is leaving Cash Allowance off the ticket in favor of the two next best horses.

Sixth race: 1, 5

The seventh race should be a good old fashioned stampede. Not one of the nine horses in the $1,800 trot has won a race this year in under 2:00. Boo Coo Blush (2-1) has been the most consistent trotter around the 2-minute mark and she's coming down in class from a season spent in $2,500 claimers. Her post (4) shouldn't hurt her.

Cherry Tree Rojo (3-1) has been more consistent than Letter of Intent (6-1) but the Amateur Handicapper is looking closely at the latter based on a game effort two races ago in which the bay mare closed a gap of 13 lengths to 3 and a show finish. She was fourth over her last race but should benefit from her inside post.

Seventh race: 1, 4

The eighth race is another tough one. So tough, the Amateur Handicapper is leaning towards betting on Nittany Linebacker (5-1) because he graduated from Penn State or on Satire (5-2) because in a former life he was a books editor for The Columbus Dispatch. Having said that, it would be foolish to leave out Star Time Kid, who is dropping from $7,000 (he won at $8,000 three weeks ago) to $3,900 and is driven by Cal Expo star driver Rick Plano. Only one horse in the race can touch Star Time Kid's 1:52.4 win earlier this year, and Western So's 1:52.4 was completed with Lemoyne Svendsen in the sulky. Western So hasn't had nearly that sort of luck as of yet with Scott Cisco.

Eighth race: 4, 5 and 9

Paul the Powerful (2-1) is the morning line favorite in the ninth race, a winner four times this year including a five length victory in late March that boasts the strongest power rating (90) by a wide margin. Will the 8 post be a hindrance? Perhaps.

Double Dakota (5-1) appears to be rounding into form after a lengthy stretch of mediocrity. Despite being parked early and fanned three wide the bay gelding managed an impressive charge from the middle of the field to finish second on April 9 by two lengths. He ran his final quarter in a brisk :28.2. With any racing luck Double Dakota should be near the front as the horses come down the stretch and if he hasn't been used up, he might just sneak in ahead of Paul the Powerful.

Ninth race: 7, 8

Pick 4: 15/14/459/78 = $24