Favorites Maul Mohawk; Hit With Habitat While Hot To Trot

The Breeders Crown Countdown (BCC) blog had a single winner. It came in a division of the Casual Breeze at Mohawk on Friday, Aug. 28. Elegant Severity ($4.90, $3.20, $2.60) teamed with Lilu Hanover ($4.10, $3.20) for a $37.30 exacta. In the other division, the favorite beat our choice, Lock Down Lindy (6-1) but we gave out the other two finishers in the triple in the order of their finish: Danielle Hall ($8.40, $5.50) and Speak To Me ($4.80).

Also from the BCC, we had one second and a third in the trio of Pennsylvania Sires Stakes at the Meadows on Aug. 28. Beaten again by the favorite, we had Lost For Words ($3.00, $2.80) for a paltry exacta of $3.80. Our third, Lyons Again, in another split, did not pay out, as show wagering was barred from betting.

Our betting supplement to the main blog is the Breeders Crown Countdown. The exclusive blog coordinates with our harness blog at TwinSpires.com and the Hambletonian Society to find great wagering opportunities for “Crown” eligibles as they race their ways to the Crown finals. This year the Crown finals take place at Woodbine on Saturday, Oct. 24, with elims the week before.

The Yonkers Trot elims provided us with a winner in Habitat ($6.30, $4.30, $3.50) while our second choice, Billy Flynn ($6.00) was third to make the final. The first elim saw Pinkman ($2.10 n/s) get caught by Crazy Wow’s perfect trip.

Also at Yonkers, our Hudson Filly Trot choice, Bright Baby Eyes could not overcome the 8 hole and broke to boot, losing the final as the 2-1 favorite. In the Lady Maud Final we were third with Strut My Stuff (n/s).

At Mohawk on Aug. 29, we were on the board but sans winners in the She’s A Great Lady elims with JK Fannie (n/s/) third and Darlinonthebeach ($4.70) second in an exacta with the favorite worth $11.30. We only scored a third in one of the Canadian Pacing Derby elims with Captive Audience ($3.40).

The Metro Pace elims were all won by the public choices. In the first we finished fourth with Cruise Patrol (11-1); in the second we were third with Racing Hill ($5.20) and in the third we were third with Pretty Boy Hill ($3.30).

H2W LIST RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas listed are included when a H2W horse finishes second with a race favorite or the first two finishers making up the exacta are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses were listed to complete the exacta). The note “ok” determines that prices published are correct even when a show price exceeds a place price or any or all of the prices are the same. This week, there were 31 active horses (an 23-percent win hit rate and a 52 percent in-the-money hit rate). One note: the list included three horses at Batavia that at the time we thought would be betting races; they turned out to be non-betting races.

Please note that some H2W results reflect win, place and/or show results occurring after press time and that it is up to you to follow those horses that have not performed before this weekly review is posted.

Winners

Deo Gloria, $11.80, $4.60, $2.20, Red Mile
Cold Escape, $9.00, $3.90, $3.20, Saratoga
Kacys Coop, $8.40, $4.60, $2.20, Scioto
Pacific Wine, $5.40, $3.40, $3.00, Northville
Virgil, $5.00, $3.40, $2.60, Scioto
Badiou Hanover, $3.80, $2.60, $2.10, Meadows
Dreamers Can Fly, $3.60, $2.809, $2.40, Red Mile

Seconds

Dali Treasure, $4.40, $3.00, Hoosier
JC Kingdom, $3.40, $2.70, Yonkers
Alritzia Hanover, $3.00, $2.70 (Exacta $7.00), Vernon
Bettor Angel, $2.10, $2.10, Plainridge

Thirds

Sumatra, $4.40, Philadelphia
A Dandy Bryer, $3.20, Northfield
Cedar Hill Dream, $3.00, Ocean
Simply Burbon, $3.00, Maywood
Lindyholic, n/s, Plainridge

News & Notes

More negative news has surfaced from the insecure harness racing territory of Illinois. At an Aug. 27 Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting, Maywood Park made a request to vacate live racing on Thursdays and Fridays beginning Oct. 8. The request went up for a vote. The horsemen’s association was opposed to the closing. The vote was five for and to five against. Since a majority is needed to grant the request, it seemed the motion had failed. However, general counsel for the IRB cited a rule that because Commissioner Byrne was participating by telephone her vote could not be counted. No one in the IRB could remember the rule ever being enforced but because of this ruling, horsemen, racetrack employees and state employees will lose their jobs. Maywood testified they would save $165,000 in the last quarter of the year from the cut. Maywood and Balmoral parks currently operate under the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court and before this IRB decision becomes final, it must be approved by that court.
 
Our horseman on the road, Thom Pye, is visiting various Ohio fairs with harness racing en route to the next Little Brown Jug meet in Delaware, Ohio. This week he reports from Greenville, where he watched the racing at the historic Darke County Fair. “It’s been going on since 1853,” Pye said, “I was walking through the Midway and spotted a huge appetizing-looking bowl of shaved French Fried potatoes, which are like spiral-cut potato chips. They were placed on the counter and layered with cream and cheddar cheeses. They looked too good to pass up so I picked a taste.” A teenager at the food stand said, "I wouldn't do that.” When I asked why, “are they somebody's order?” he said, “No, they've been sitting there a week.”

Harrah’s Philadelphia will race live on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 7) with a first post of 12:40 p.m. The Labor Day program will feature the Pennsylvania Stallion Series Championships for three-year-olds. The two-year-old Stallion Series Championships will be held on Thursday, Sept. 10. Harrah's Philadelphia also announced the upcoming Liberty Bell Series for Pennsylvania-sired two- and three-year-olds. The schedule for those events is as follows. Sept. 13—three-year-old colt pace; Sept. 17—three -year-old filly trot; Sept. 18—three-year-old colt trot; Sept. 20—t wo-year-old filly pace; Sept. 23—two-year-old filly trot; Sept. 24—two-year-old colt pace; Sept. 25—two-year-old colt trot; Sept. 27—three-year-old filly pace.

The Meadows Racetrack takes a break from live harness racing from Oct. 12 to Oct. 29. The break will enable the Meadows to prepare for winter racing. The last program before the break is set for Saturday, Oct. 10, when the track hosts the Pennsylvania Fairs Championships. Opening weekend of the fall-winter meeting includes a live card Friday (Oct. 30), first post 12:55 p.m., and an added live program Saturday (Oct. 31) to complement the Meadows’ simulcast of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Cup. Live racing on Breeders’ Cup day begins at 11:25 a.m.

Extraordinary Extras

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

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog

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