Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

The best of our action over the weekend was across the board in the Ontario Sires Stakes (ONSS) Super Finals, Saturday, Oct. 11, where we gave you the highest paying of the eight championship winners, Code One Hanover ($55.70, $21.10, $10.20) in the frosh-filly pace.

She was also our only winner in the octet. Just missing was second-place Muscle Baby Doll ($12.90, $4.30) in the ONSS frosh-filly trot and a huge third-place finish in the soph-colt trot was our choice, Verdi ($16.80).

At Hoosier we had an easy favorite winner in Friday’s Indiana Sires Stakes’ frosh-filly trot with Churita ($2.60, $2.20, $2.10). Also in the INSS quartet on Oct. 10 were Camturo Rock second ($5, $3.80) for a $6 exacta and a third with Image Of Felicia ($6).

In the Saturday foursome at Hoosier, we gave you the INSS soph-colt pace winner, Bluehourpower ($6.60, $3.60, $2.80), with only another finisher, Metro Shopping ($3), third.

The American-Nationals at Balmoral on Saturday was not kind to our choices with prices but three winners developed, all obvious; Father Patrick ($2.10, $2.10, $2.10 ok), Shake It Cerry ($3.60, $2.20, $2.10) and Well Hello There ($4.20, $2.20, n/s). There were upsets but not for us, we only also had Foiled Again for second ($4, $2.60) and King Of The Swamp an entry-supported second ($2.10)

The Breeders Crown Countdown blog, located at Blogspot, covered the Historic Debutante’s three divisions (Oct 10), the Historic Harriman’s two divisions and three splits of the Goshen Cup (Oct. 12) at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

On Friday, we had Happiness ($4.80, $2.20 n/s) win and Rock Me Gently second ($3, n/s) for a $19.60 exacta with the favorite.

On Sunday, we had Explosive Drama ($8.60, $2.60, $2.40) and a rousing second with My Hero Ron ($33.80, n/s) –that place price is not a typo.

The “Countdown” blog will continue coverage of races connected to “Crown” eligibles leading to the championship events in November (where we will cover the finals live from the Meadowlands). Don’t miss one episode of the Breeders Crown Countdown on Blogspot and look for archived race reviews at the Hambletonian Society site.

HARNESS OCTOBER – During the month of October, TwinSpires is offering harness bettors some great deals when you wager on standardbreds at any racetrack we carry.
Check out the details by clicking here.

TwinSpires and Hoosier continue a three-pronged power-packed program for harness players. Tuesdays, wager all you want and earn 10 TSC Elite Points per dollar bet. Click here for details. Every Thursday night, there is a 20-percent bonus on hitting the Pick 4 starting at Race 3. Click here for details. And the ongoing 10-percent Pick-4 bonus every racing night on Pick-4 hits continues through the meet. Click here for details.

In between published harness blogs, follow @FrankCotolo and @TwinSpires on Twitter to get tips on Hoosier contenders you can use in your tickets. Other possibilities appear in exclusive H2W list.

H2W RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas are included when a H2W horse finishing first or second completes the result with a race favorite or another H2W horse listed in the same race (an asterisk appears when both horses were listed to complete the exacta). This week, there were 32 active horses on the H2W list.

Winners

Gritty Millie Boy, $13.40, $6.20, $3.40 (*Exacta $71). Cal Expo
Silverlode, $10.60, $6.20, $3.40, Cal Expo
Zoe’s Fortune, $9.20, $7.20, $5.40, Rosecroft
All Powerful, $7.50, $4.30, $4.70 ok, Saratoga
Feel Like Dancin, $5.80, $2.80, $2.20, Maywood
Continual Velocity, $2.80, $2.40, $2.10, Meadows

Seconds

Pow Chicka Pow, $8.20, $7.40 (*Exacta, $71), Cal Expo
Stingy, $6, $4.60 (Exacta $32.60), Plainridge
Bettor’s Promise, $3.20, $2.10, Cal Expo
 
Thirds

Shady Mountain, $5.40, Plainridge
Notorious Terror, $4.60, Colonial
Grandpa Don, $3.10, Saratoga
Fox Valley Shannon, $3, Scarborough
New York Kitty, $2.40, Plainridge
Avagadro Hanover, $2.30, Saratoga
Rascal Shark, $2.10, Cal Expo
 
News & Notes
 
When you read this it will probably be true that Ron Burke will have the single-year purse earnings record of any standardbred trainer in history. In 2013, Burke set the record of $22.2 million and became the first trainer to win 1,000 races in a season. “I really thought [breaking the earnings record] would be the hardest thing for us to do,” said Burke, “but we got off to such a good strong start this year … and that made a lot of difference.” Some of the horses responsible for the 2014 surge include Foiled Again, Bettor’s Edge, Clear Vision, JK Endofanera, Limelight Beach, At Press Time, Wishing Stone, Archangel and Well Hello. Trainer Jimmy Takter, second to Burke with $9.83 million in purses this year, has done well with Father Patrick, Shake It Cerry, Lifetime Pursuit, Trixton, Nuncio, Master Of Law, Bet You and Gettingreadytoroll, to name a few.

Continuing our driver monitor, Bill Davis was stupendous on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Friday, Oct. 10 at his hometown track Fraser Downs, trumping many other drivers we have covered lately who have had many wins on a single program. Davis, though he has a high profile as the leading driver at the British Columbia raceway, got into the winner’s circle six times, both nights with prices that seem outrageous considering his popularity. Talk about flat-bet profits, Davis beat any driver making headlines this year for streaking. On Thursday, betting all horses Davis drove, using him as the sole reason to wager, would have cost a player $14 for a return of $56.90 (a profit of $42.90 or 306 percent). On Friday, using the same criterion for betting, an investment of $16 returned $95.20 or 500 percent). Though it certainly will never continue at that rate, for two programs with a driver as well known and well supported as Davis, those numbers are marvelous.
 
Dover Downs’ 45th season opens on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2014. The six-month meet goes five days a week, through April 9, 2015. Live racing will be contested Sundays through Thursdays during November and December with Friday and Saturday dark. Weekday racing begins at 4:30 p.m. with Sunday post time at 5:30 p.m. Again, Dover features a lucrative stakes schedule, including its signature event, the Progress Pace, as well as eight Matron Stakes finals and four Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund frosh division, making for a stakes-heavy November and December racing agenda.

Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in many standardbred topics at my Hoof Beats blog titled Vast Performances.

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog

Cartoons by Thom Pye ~ For Thom Pye cartoons, informative harness history and more, click here ~