New face at Cal Expo; Jacob Cutting

Jacob Cutting is one of the new faces at Cal Expo Harness, hailing from Alberta, Canada and he 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.

By Mark Ratzky, for Cal Expo Harness