by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — He got the perfect trip while some of his main foes didn’t, and that saw Little Stevie get up in time.

Open Handicap ll pacers, racing for a $7,000 purse, were featured at Cal-Expo on Saturday night (July 7), in which Little Stevie did the California breds proud.

In advance of starting from post position four in the field of seven, driver Rick Kuebler gave himself more than an ordinary chance.

“He has raced well in his last and he was definitely a contender in the race,” said Kuebler. “I was going to try and get as good a trip as possible.”

Leaving and under urging soon after the start, Little Stevie would drop into the pocket behind Derek Bromac N (Gilbert Herrera) just as the field entered the first turn, all while two lengths behind that leader as the field reached the quarter-mile pole, timed in :28.

“I used him some for position, but he was quickly able to settle without being used too hard. I was happy with my position, the pace was moderate, and I was comfortable and content to sit where I was as the horse follows along very well and usually finishes close up.”

Closing up to 1-1/2 lengths back at the three-eighth-mile pole, Little Stevie was feeling good.

“The second quarter had slowed up quite a bit and he started to catch up and grab a hold.”

Still 1-3/4 lengths back at the half-mile station, timed in :57.3, Kuebler felt the pace of the race was now working to his advantage.

“With the second quarter being slow, it helped my chances because we would start to sprint from there and I felt that he could follow and sprint the rest of the mile.”

Back to gapping a couple lengths at the 9-16th-mile pole and 2-1/2 lengths at the five-eighths marker as Derek Bromac N picked up the pace, Kuebler got a little worried.

“Gilbert (Herrera) was going for all he could and I was concerned because Derek Bromac N is a good enough horse to roll the rest of the mile.”

Now under urging to and past the 11-16th-mile pole as well as to and at the three-quarter-mile marker, timed in 1:25.3, Kuebler was doing all he could.

“At the three-quarters, I was all-out and just urging and trying to close the gap.”

Continuing to try to get closer, Kuebler would pop the earplugs of his charge to the top of the stretch where he would get the response he wanted and needed.

“Suddenly he started to close the gap quickly and I popped him out of the hole with less than 3-16ths to go and tried to surprise him by popping him out of the hole and asking him to go on.”

Creeping closer with every stride, Kuebler would continue to work on the only Cal-bred in the race.

“He grudgingly made his way to the front in very deep stretch and was able to hold off the late bid of a fast closing Good Bad Or Best (Jim Lackey).”

Owned by Carol Campbell in partnership with trainer Jean MacDonell, Little Stevie, in winning ($8.60) by a nose, stopped the timer at 1:54.2. Good Bad Or Best closed well to be second, and the favored The Pand Illusion (Rick Plano), who clearly was the victim of a poor flow, and who had $98,224 to show on him out of a total show pool of $99,514, was barely up for third, a length back.

“It was nice to see him get to the winner’s circle after finishing close in several efforts,” Kuebler finished.

For the second straight card, driver Luke Plano had four wins.

In the 12th and final race, a nasty six-horse spill marred the final event of the week, a race that would be declared no contest.

Catching a hobble with his left front leg, Police Cadet (Lemoyne Svendsen) would drop suddenly at the five-eighths-mile pole causing an instant pile-up. Also going down in the spill were Liner (Harold Herrera), Fich Inter Letrado (Jason Maier), Alison Alison (Scott Cisco), King Of War (James Kennedy), and Flash The Sign (Jim Lackey). Only James Kennedy managed to land on his feet while appearing uninjured.

Drivers Svendsen and Maier were seen after the races leaving the grounds under their own power. Jim Lackey, who was on the ground being attended to by paramedics for roughly 15 minutes, eventually got to his feet and was seen walking back to the drivers’ room. Scott Cisco was on his feet talking with family and paramedics after the race, then was taken to a local hospital for precautionary measures. Harold Herrera, who initially was sitting up and talking with paramedics, was taken off the track by stretcher and taken to a local hospital.

Of the six horses involved, of which three got loose, initially it looked liked scrapes and bruises were all that was involved. A later unofficial report indicated that King Of War may have been taken to a local veterinarian for treatment of his injuries.

Appearing to take the worst of everything were several race-bikes that clearly may have seen their last race.

Live racing resumes at Cal-Expo on Wednesday (July 11), continuing through Saturday. Post time on Wednesday and Thursday is at 5:35 p.m. (PDT). Post time on Friday and Saturday is at 6:15 p.m. On Wednesday, fans can wager into the $25,000 guaranteed Chi-Cal Pick 4 Challenge. Also on Wednesday, admission is free, plus Cal-Expo offers a complete lasagna dinner, with salad and bread, for just $2.00.

Cal-Expo now offers guaranteed $10,000 pools on all Pick-4’s!