by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal Expo Harness

Sacramento, CA — Fresh from making six appearances in the Cal Expo winner’s circle last Saturday night, including five of his own trainees, Steve Wiseman comes into this week’s action atop both the driver and trainer standings.

“I had a lot of horses in the right spots, so I thought it was going to be a good night,” Wiseman related. “As far as being the leading driver and trainer, that was the goal coming into the meet. I’ve never won the training title before, so that would be nice, and I’ve got a great crew to help me.”

Wild About Eagle overcame the tough No. 9 post to get the job done last weekend while carrying the banner of Kathy Plested and Mark Benvenga.

“She’s awfully sharp right now and on top of her game,” her mentor said. “I think she had an advantage these first few weeks because she’d been racing while some of the others took the summer off.”

Another Wiseman trainee who got his picture taken last Saturday was the trotter Jimmy Shin, who sat a perfect pocket trip and won going away. The 10-year-old is now at the $384,000 earnings plateau.

“I claimed him here at the last meet with the idea of racing him in Minnesota. He did pretty well until the end of the meet, when I probably had him a couple of classes too high.”

Jimmy Shin had to settle for a second in his first appearance at this stand after coming from far back and getting a less than ideal journey.

“He had a poor cover flow that night and would have won if I could have had him just a little closer. As bad as that trip was, everything worked out perfectly last time.”

Racing is now being conducted on Saturday and Sunday nights, with first post on Sunday at 4:45 p.m. Plans call for a three-night-a week schedule starting on Dec. 26, with Friday racing being added to the mix.