Race Preview The Meadows: Preferred Handicap For Fillies and Mares - Race 8 - Friday September 20, 2013
The 8th race on The Meadows program for Friday, September 20th, is a Preferred Handicap for Fillies and Mares. All post positions were drawn.
Darena Hanover with Dave Palone driving for Ron Burke got the 9 post and the morning line's lowest odds. Palone and Burke have 33% for wins. This hard closing mare out of Yankee Cruiser-Western Ideal has lifetime earnings of over $600,000, which is much more than her closest rival, All Heart Gal, who is two years younger than Darena Hanover, has for earnings in this field. Darena Hanover has won 2 of her 8 races at The Meadows and has placed in 3.
Do Me Honor in the 8 post has Aaron Merriman handling the reins for William Bercury. They have 24% for wins together. This mare has turned in some good times and a win and two shows from the outside posts here. Evidently, she likes the track, because she has 15 wins and two 2nds out of 27 races here. She's been running with the likes of Ginger and Fred and came in third to her in her last race at The Meadows.
Ole Miss in the 7 post with Eric Ledford in the bike for Randy Bendis is the only horse in the race to have hit the likely par in her last race. That was from the 1 post though, a different proposition from the 7 post. She does have good speed and can leave and still have something left for closing in the stretch, if you look at her running style in most of her races.
Sara Diamond in the 6 post has Mike Wilder driving for Dan Altmeyer. She's also been racing against the horses like Ginger and Fred, but her speed figures aren't quite up to the speed she'll need to beat the average speed of this company. That's not to say that she can't, but she hasn't shown the type of speed it would take to win this in her previous races.
Isabella's Magic in the 5 post is well placed to show up in exotics in this race. She's been knocking on the door in her last races and has a good exacta record at The Meadows. She gets out reasonably well and is almost always in the money at the finish, which shows grit and determination. Greg Grismore drives for Raymond Simms.
Star Keeper in the 4 post has Brett Miller, who chose her over Isabellas's Magic to drive for his father, Del Miller. He's been in the money two-thirds of the time with this mare, and she's hit the exacta in almost half of her races at this track. She has back speed and is classy enough to compete with this field.
All Heart Gal has the 3 post and Brian Zendt, who drives for Angela Porflio. This is another mare who has some back speed and has also had a bit of a layoff recently. She had a good qualifier and then showed little in her first race after that, but may have been racing into condition in that race. Zendt has her in the winner's circle 30% of the time and she's been in some classy races.
Moonlite Delite in the 2 post gets Richard Stillings for the first time, driving for Ryan Angus for the second time. If her speed figures are anything to go on, she'll have to struggle to compete here. It's also interesting that Randy Tharps, who has been driving her, chose her over Crossthreaded today, but that might be because he's Crossthreaded's regular driver.
Crossthreaded is in the 1 post with Randy Tharps in the bike for Bruce Reigle. This mare hasn't done badly at The Meadows with 8 wins and 3 places out of 32 races here, but she's done it in lower class races. In spite of the assigned post positions, the 1 post isn't the best post at this track. That honor goes to the 4 and 5 posts. She does have the highest win percentage of all the mares here, if that counts for anything.
It looks like Star Keeper might be first to leave, if she has running room, with the closers Ole Miss and Darena Hanover trying to maneuver to within striking distance in the stretch. That's unless one of the closers' drivers decides to race them differently, by getting out earlier than they usually do to compensate for the outside postion or the second tier.
As always, safe trips and good racing luck to all the horses and drivers on today's card. Don't forget to watch and wager on Bet America where bonus tracks pay rewards.
Darena Hanover with Dave Palone driving for Ron Burke got the 9 post and the morning line's lowest odds. Palone and Burke have 33% for wins. This hard closing mare out of Yankee Cruiser-Western Ideal has lifetime earnings of over $600,000, which is much more than her closest rival, All Heart Gal, who is two years younger than Darena Hanover, has for earnings in this field. Darena Hanover has won 2 of her 8 races at The Meadows and has placed in 3.
Do Me Honor in the 8 post has Aaron Merriman handling the reins for William Bercury. They have 24% for wins together. This mare has turned in some good times and a win and two shows from the outside posts here. Evidently, she likes the track, because she has 15 wins and two 2nds out of 27 races here. She's been running with the likes of Ginger and Fred and came in third to her in her last race at The Meadows.
Ole Miss in the 7 post with Eric Ledford in the bike for Randy Bendis is the only horse in the race to have hit the likely par in her last race. That was from the 1 post though, a different proposition from the 7 post. She does have good speed and can leave and still have something left for closing in the stretch, if you look at her running style in most of her races.
Sara Diamond in the 6 post has Mike Wilder driving for Dan Altmeyer. She's also been racing against the horses like Ginger and Fred, but her speed figures aren't quite up to the speed she'll need to beat the average speed of this company. That's not to say that she can't, but she hasn't shown the type of speed it would take to win this in her previous races.
Isabella's Magic in the 5 post is well placed to show up in exotics in this race. She's been knocking on the door in her last races and has a good exacta record at The Meadows. She gets out reasonably well and is almost always in the money at the finish, which shows grit and determination. Greg Grismore drives for Raymond Simms.
Star Keeper in the 4 post has Brett Miller, who chose her over Isabellas's Magic to drive for his father, Del Miller. He's been in the money two-thirds of the time with this mare, and she's hit the exacta in almost half of her races at this track. She has back speed and is classy enough to compete with this field.
All Heart Gal has the 3 post and Brian Zendt, who drives for Angela Porflio. This is another mare who has some back speed and has also had a bit of a layoff recently. She had a good qualifier and then showed little in her first race after that, but may have been racing into condition in that race. Zendt has her in the winner's circle 30% of the time and she's been in some classy races.
Moonlite Delite in the 2 post gets Richard Stillings for the first time, driving for Ryan Angus for the second time. If her speed figures are anything to go on, she'll have to struggle to compete here. It's also interesting that Randy Tharps, who has been driving her, chose her over Crossthreaded today, but that might be because he's Crossthreaded's regular driver.
Crossthreaded is in the 1 post with Randy Tharps in the bike for Bruce Reigle. This mare hasn't done badly at The Meadows with 8 wins and 3 places out of 32 races here, but she's done it in lower class races. In spite of the assigned post positions, the 1 post isn't the best post at this track. That honor goes to the 4 and 5 posts. She does have the highest win percentage of all the mares here, if that counts for anything.
It looks like Star Keeper might be first to leave, if she has running room, with the closers Ole Miss and Darena Hanover trying to maneuver to within striking distance in the stretch. That's unless one of the closers' drivers decides to race them differently, by getting out earlier than they usually do to compensate for the outside postion or the second tier.
As always, safe trips and good racing luck to all the horses and drivers on today's card. Don't forget to watch and wager on Bet America where bonus tracks pay rewards.