By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
While most people were
conceding the Dave Goldschmidt Free-for-All Pace to heavily-favored
Allmyx’sliventexas, apparently somebody forget to tell King Of The Crop.
Sent off at 8-1 in that
contest two weeks ago, the soon-to-be 9-year-old son of Little Steven stalked
the 1-5 choice and gamely got the job done for owners Don and Barbara Arnstine
and Steve Chambers, trainer Kathy Plested and pilot Steve Wiseman.
“We were thrilled with King
and his brave win,” said Barbara Arnstine. “He’s pretty special to us because
he was so darn hard to get.
“We’ve been following him
ever since Wayne Short entered him in claimers, and when he finally got to the
tracks in Pennsylvania and New York where we could make a claim, we kept losing
the shake.
“We tried three times, and
each time we lost him to someone else. Then the next week he would be claimed
for a higher price. By the time we got him at his highest price, we were the
only ones left. If you would have seen him got off the truck after being in
five different barns in two months, you would be wondering if we were crazy or
just obsessed.”
Following a needed race here
on November 30, King Of The Crop was ready to rock and roll in the Goldschmidt
while recording his 28th lifetime score and pushing his career
bankroll to the $207,000 mark.
“After a couple of weeks with
Kathy and Steve, you would have seen what we saw,” Barbara noted. “A fine,
big-hearted Cal-bred who needed to come home. And he thanks us every time he
races.”
Open Pace gets the
marquee treatment
Allmyx’sliventexas, who had
his local winning snapped in the Dave Goldschmidt Pace two weeks ago; and King
Of The Crop, who provided the upset, get another chance to settle the score in
Friday night’s $7,200 Open Pace.
There will be 12 races
presented by Watch and Wager LLC with first post set for 6:10 p.m.. The program
will also feature the Robert Gordon Prep for pacers.
Allymx’sliventexas is a
soon-to-be 7-year-old son of Hi Ho Silverheel’s who is owned and was bred by
Wayne and Rod Knittel, takes his lessons from Bob Johnson and will have Mooney
Svendsen at the controls. A winner of 34 of 111 starts, the bay performer went
over the $200,000 mark with his most recent appearance and sports a 1:50
lifetime mark.
After starting the meet with
three straight Open victories, Allymx’sliventexas was dispatched as the 1-5
favorite in the December 14 Dave Goldschmidt, but was unable to contain King Of
The Crop when that rival came calling in the lane and was beaten a half-length
over the track labelled good.
King Of The Crop is an
8-year-old Little Steven offspring who carries the banner of Don and Barbara
Arnstine and Steve Chambers with Kathy Plested conditioning and Steve Wiseman
handling the lines.
Sent off at 8-1 in the
Goldschmidt, King Of The Crop tracked the favorite to the drive and then dug in
gamely to pull off the upset. It was the 28th lifetime tally for the
hard-hitting pacer and pushed his bank account to $207,000 mark with a 1:50 4/5
career standard.
Taking on this pair are
Bettor In The Bank, Part Time, Almost Cut My Hair, Senga Nitro, Marced Magic
and Some Playa.
