Harness Race Preview: Pocono Downs - Stallion Series 3rd Division Pace - Race 14 - Friday August 9, 2013
This is the 3rd division of the Stallion Series and there's a lot going on in this one. Two of the entries are getting lasix for the first time and there are some driver choices that say a lot about what the drivers think about their horse's chances.
Several of these fillies have won at Pocono: 1-Beautiful Artist, 4-Tiger Boudoir, 7-Somekindamonster and 9-Sapere Hanover. Cloris Hanover has won both her starts here.
Ron Pierce went with the 7-Somekindamonster at 15-1 and not in a great post position over 1-Beautiful Artist who looks much the better of the two on paper. However, first time lasix and a good trainer with 25% wins out of over a thousand races should count for something. Having Somebeachsomewhere for a sire and Cambest for a damsire doesn't hurt either. Watch this one, who was parked out in her last and still hung in there for purse money at the end.
Matt Kakaley chose 3-Voltina over 5-Dragon Ruffles and Voltina is the other first time lasix entry. Interesting. Ron Burke, Voltina's trainer, has been working with her since he took over the duties in June and she seems to be improving. However, she has had 3 races at Pocono and one show. I think the jury is still out on whether she likes the oval or not.
1-Beautiful Artist, on the other hand, has had 4 races at Pocono and has won 1. It wasn't a recent win, but it WAS a win, so she knows her way around the track and to the finish line. She has Mike Simons in the bike for the first time.
2-Texas Caviar is moving up in class and hasn't run since June, when she won by over 5 lengths at Harrah's Philadelphia. That was at a lower class level with Yannick Gingras in the bike, but it was a good clean race and she showed that she can take the lead and keep it. She's had a trainer change and qualified well at Pocono, ran one race where she ran out of the money and then moved to other tracks. She's at 4-1 in the morning line for reasons I'm in the dark about. Maybe after the race I'll be enlightened.
4-Tiger Boudoir with Andy Miller driving and trained by Brandon Simpson, has had 14 races at Pocono and has won 2, placed in 3 and showed in 3. Hard to ignore those stats. One where she placed was on a sloppy track, so watch this one if the clouds roll in for this program.
5-Dragon Ruffles, a Dragon Again filly with Albatross for a damsire, looks tough from the 5 post, which is a good one at Pocono. George Napolitano in the bike and a trainer, Nikolas Drennan, who gets her in the money 77% of the time make her a potent threat and one to consider for exotics. She's been away from Pocono, where she's only run one race, but she's been hitting the exacta at other tracks half the time. A win wouldn't be out of the question for this filly.
6-Cloris Hanover with Tyler Buter driving for Amber Buter won both her races at Pocono and has outrun the class level of this race. The Buters are a team to take seriously with 19% for wins together and a positive ROI across the board. She has 5 out of 8 for lifetime wins and Somebeachsomewhere for a sire with No Nukes for a damsire. Talk about the creme de la creme of pedigrees!
8-HS Open Waters has yet to win at Pocono, but has knocked on the door at a lower level with one place here. This Four Starzzz Shark-Art Major filly may need a little more time to mature and come into herself. She's at 20-1 here and not in a very good post position for pacers.
9-Sapere Hanover is no stranger to Pocono with 2 wins, 3 places and 2 shows out of 10 races. It looks to me as if she was in over her head in her last two races and was parked out in the last one. The drop in class might help her and Joe Paiva Jr, who is part owner and both driver and trainer, will definitely be driving for a piece of the purse, if he can get it, with this filly. She's at 10-1.
This outcome of this race could well depend on who stays flat, who leaves cleanly and who can close in the stretch without getting parked out or blocked. With young horses like this, even ones that have a few races under their girths, there can be a sudden spurt of physical or emotional maturity that changes an improving horse into a horse to be reckoned with, from one race to the next.
Safe trips to all the horses and drivers on the program and good racing luck to all of them. Remember to watch and wager on Bet America where Pocono is a bonus track.
Several of these fillies have won at Pocono: 1-Beautiful Artist, 4-Tiger Boudoir, 7-Somekindamonster and 9-Sapere Hanover. Cloris Hanover has won both her starts here.
Ron Pierce went with the 7-Somekindamonster at 15-1 and not in a great post position over 1-Beautiful Artist who looks much the better of the two on paper. However, first time lasix and a good trainer with 25% wins out of over a thousand races should count for something. Having Somebeachsomewhere for a sire and Cambest for a damsire doesn't hurt either. Watch this one, who was parked out in her last and still hung in there for purse money at the end.
Matt Kakaley chose 3-Voltina over 5-Dragon Ruffles and Voltina is the other first time lasix entry. Interesting. Ron Burke, Voltina's trainer, has been working with her since he took over the duties in June and she seems to be improving. However, she has had 3 races at Pocono and one show. I think the jury is still out on whether she likes the oval or not.
1-Beautiful Artist, on the other hand, has had 4 races at Pocono and has won 1. It wasn't a recent win, but it WAS a win, so she knows her way around the track and to the finish line. She has Mike Simons in the bike for the first time.
2-Texas Caviar is moving up in class and hasn't run since June, when she won by over 5 lengths at Harrah's Philadelphia. That was at a lower class level with Yannick Gingras in the bike, but it was a good clean race and she showed that she can take the lead and keep it. She's had a trainer change and qualified well at Pocono, ran one race where she ran out of the money and then moved to other tracks. She's at 4-1 in the morning line for reasons I'm in the dark about. Maybe after the race I'll be enlightened.
4-Tiger Boudoir with Andy Miller driving and trained by Brandon Simpson, has had 14 races at Pocono and has won 2, placed in 3 and showed in 3. Hard to ignore those stats. One where she placed was on a sloppy track, so watch this one if the clouds roll in for this program.
5-Dragon Ruffles, a Dragon Again filly with Albatross for a damsire, looks tough from the 5 post, which is a good one at Pocono. George Napolitano in the bike and a trainer, Nikolas Drennan, who gets her in the money 77% of the time make her a potent threat and one to consider for exotics. She's been away from Pocono, where she's only run one race, but she's been hitting the exacta at other tracks half the time. A win wouldn't be out of the question for this filly.
6-Cloris Hanover with Tyler Buter driving for Amber Buter won both her races at Pocono and has outrun the class level of this race. The Buters are a team to take seriously with 19% for wins together and a positive ROI across the board. She has 5 out of 8 for lifetime wins and Somebeachsomewhere for a sire with No Nukes for a damsire. Talk about the creme de la creme of pedigrees!
8-HS Open Waters has yet to win at Pocono, but has knocked on the door at a lower level with one place here. This Four Starzzz Shark-Art Major filly may need a little more time to mature and come into herself. She's at 20-1 here and not in a very good post position for pacers.
9-Sapere Hanover is no stranger to Pocono with 2 wins, 3 places and 2 shows out of 10 races. It looks to me as if she was in over her head in her last two races and was parked out in the last one. The drop in class might help her and Joe Paiva Jr, who is part owner and both driver and trainer, will definitely be driving for a piece of the purse, if he can get it, with this filly. She's at 10-1.
This outcome of this race could well depend on who stays flat, who leaves cleanly and who can close in the stretch without getting parked out or blocked. With young horses like this, even ones that have a few races under their girths, there can be a sudden spurt of physical or emotional maturity that changes an improving horse into a horse to be reckoned with, from one race to the next.
Safe trips to all the horses and drivers on the program and good racing luck to all of them. Remember to watch and wager on Bet America where Pocono is a bonus track.