What Really Counts - Cal Expo Saturday Pick 4s

If you are reading this blog, odds are you love harness racing and you come here for the latest in racing news and opinion.  This entry is going to be a little different; it has more to do about life.

We all love hitting the Trifecta, Daily Double, and if we are really lucky, the Pick 4 or dare I say the Pick 6?  We love watching the majesty of a fast pacer and a well-gaited trotter strutting their stuff during the race or warm ups, but when you consider what is going on in Northeast Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York, these things mean little.  Wilkes-Barre is hoping the forty-one foot levy they built after Hurricane Agnes years ago holds as the Susquehanna River is rising and is expected to rise to a level where local people are hoping the levy holds.  Back when Hurricane Agnes came through the area, Pocono Downs was a refuge for residents ordered to evacuate.  Right now, up to 120,000 Pennsylvanians have been ordered to evacuate.

In the Southern Tier of New York, home of Tioga Downs, things are so bad that they cancelled what is scheduled to be the last three days of the race meet and played musical chairs with the final stakes races of their meet; moving the Cane Pace and the Shady Daisy to Pocono Downs at virtually the last minute and the NYSS races to Vernon Downs.

While we love harness racing, this is more important; we are dealing with life and death situations, people having everything they ever owned swept away or destroyed.  It may take years for some of these people to recover.  Why harness racing is our love, it takes a back seat to the tragedy people are currently experiencing from these unprecedented rains.  For those of us who are fortunately not suffering from these hardships, we need to count our blessings and remember what is important.


On the racing front, Cal Expo introduces its Saturday Night Pick 4 specials.  The early and late Pick 4s features a 15% takeout rate.  However, the late Pick also features a $15,000 guaranteed pool and as in their spring meet, if you wager on the Pick 4 live at Cal Expo or via a TwinSpires account, if you hit the Pick 4, you will receive a rebate which results in a net takeout rate of 0%.  My Pick 4 selections for Cal Expo may be accessed from the menu bar above.