By Mark Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Jacob Cutting is one of the
new faces from Alberta, and is also one of the youngest at just 18 years old.
Jacob has ventured down with
seven horses, including a couple of babies, and his first two Cal Expo
victories have come with his 3-year-old pacing mare Paloma Ruiz. She was 50-1
when she dead-heated for the score on December 6, then was a much more
reasonable price when she came right back with a score as a 5-2 shot.
Paloma Ruiz returned last
weekend to post a solid runner-up finish and Jacob added another snapshot to
his resume last weekend when he guided La Diva De Rosa to a $14 victory for
owner/breeder Cynthia Tupper and trainer Richard Bertrand.
“A lot of my family,
including my dad, is involved in harness racing,” related Cutter, who recorded
his first trip to the winner’s circle this past August up in the Great White
North.
“I’ve always been into
sports, and I pretty much knew from an early age that I wanted to be in harness
racing.”
And the main reason Jacob
came down to Cal Expo? “The warm weather,” he said without missing a beat.
“Right now, it’s 20 below back home.”
As far as his impressions of
the Sacramento track, Cutting has nothing but nice things to say. “The people
have been very welcoming, the track is great and so is the backside.” Right
back at you, Jacob.
King Of The Crop gets
class relief
King Of The Crop, who
captured the Dave Goldschmidt Pace on December 14, drops into a cozy
conditioned spot and heads the cast for Saturday night’s $5,000 pacing feature.
There will be 12 races
presented by Watch and Wager LLC and things get underway at 6:10 p.m.
King Of The Crop is a now
9-year-old son of Little Steven who campaigns for Don and Barbara Arnstine,
Steve Chambers and Kathie Plested, is conditioned by Plested and will once
again have the services of Steve Wiseman.
The hard-hitting performer
comes into this assignment with 28 wins from his 159 trips to the post, he has
banked $206,000 and he established his lifetime mark of 1:50 4/5 two years ago
at Pompano Park.
Sent off at 8-1 in the
Goldschmidt three weeks ago over a track labelled “good”, King Of The Crop was
ultra-game as he came first over and wore down heavily-favored
Allmyx’sliventexas that evening to prevail by a half-length.
Lining up against him this
weekend, from the rail out: Some Playa, Blue Star Maverick, Bestinthebusiness,
Mystic Ruler, Pancetta, Contemporary Legend, Dependlebury A, Vicious Aloicious
and Mister Hat.
***
There are two wagers offered
each night with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate – the 20-cent Pick 5 and the
20-cent Pick 4. The Pick 4 will now feature a $40,000-guaranteed gross pool on
Saturdays and a $30,000 guarantee on Fridays.
