Frosh Price-Topper, $25; Exacta Partner For $59; Adios Final Field Set; ‘Wiggle’ Wins Again

On Twitter last Wednesday, July 20, we offered three spot plays at Northfield and could only muster a show finish with King Richard ($4.00). Sharp Action (11-1) finished fifth and so did Reggie Raider (8-1) in their respective races.

On various Wednesday nights we tweet for TwinSpires Twitter members from @FrankCotolo –retweeted by @twinspires—and the raceway involved. Losers from each week will appear on the next week’s horses-to-watch (H2W) list unless they race before that blog is published, so watch for them returning to the races on days in between blogs. Watch for special tweets from raceways on various Wednesdays.
 
The weekend features were dominated by a freshman winner’s price for the third-straight week. We addressed all of the Kindergarten legs over two programs at the Meadowlands and hit with Sunshine Delight ($25.60, $6.00, $3.40). From our other choice frosh contenders we had two seconds and a third. There was Crann Tara ($12.00, $6.20) who completed a $59.00 exacta with the favorite; there was Miss Jones ($4.20, $2.80) who completed the $7.20 exacta with the public’s choice; and third was Very Special Agent ($2.60), she the favorite. There were three other contenders: Fly Beyond (20-1), finishing sixth; He’s Gone (10-1), finishing fifth; and Independent One (26-1), who broke badly and finished eighth. 

On Saturday afternoon at the Meadows, we surrendered in the first Adios Pace elim to the low price winner due to the dominance of Racing Hill ($2.40, $2.10, $2.10 ok). We didn’t get the exacta, as Lyons Snyder ($2.10) took third. We were ahead in the lead of the second elim but two horses passed us late so we were third with Another Daily Copy ($4.00).

On that same program we were second in a sires stakes with Darlinonthebeach (no place or show betting) and fourth in another split with Kiss Me Onthebeack (7-1).

Over at Saratoga we also gave into the obvious, backing Wiggle It Jiggleit ($2.20, $2.10, n/s) in the Joe Gerrity, Jr. feature. Unfortunately the exacta we suggested did not materialize as PH Supercam (158-1) was unable to compete well enough.
 
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 a cold 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 43 active horses (a 16-percent win hit rate and a 41-percent in-the-money hit rate).

Please note that some H2W results reflect win, place, show and exotic results occurring by press time but some horses race after the blog is posted (we list them the following week) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review is posted.

Winners

Gigi From Fiji, $17.80, $5.80, $3.60, Philadelphia
Southwind Bliss, $15.00, $4.20, $2.80, Bangor
Medway Tower, $9.60, $5.60, $2.20, Scarborough
Angelo J Fra, $6.60, $2.80, $2.80 ok, Scioto
Lolo, $6.20, $3.40, $2.40, Running Aces
Tyrone Haji, $5.40, $3.40, $3.00, Ocean
Pembroke Baroness, $4.20, $3.20, $2.10, Plainridge
 
Seconds

Southwind Ricardo, $13.00, $4.50, Yonkers
Royal Air, $7.20, $2.20 (Exacta $20.60)
Unix Hanover, $4.00, $2.80, Meadowlands
Louscipher, $3.80, $3.60, Hawthorne
 
Thirds

Race Me Fantasy, $7.80, Scarborough
Iron Train, $5.60, Plainridge
Scootin For Joy, $4.30, Yonkers
Full Grown Man, $3.90, Saratoga
Race Me Android, $3.80, Scarborough
Flashy Lady, $3.20, Running Aces
Dandys Dududidudu, $3.00, Hawthorne
Keystone Sapphire, $2.20, Tioga

News & Notes

Missing from some of the high-profile soph-colt pacing stakes over the past few weeks was the winner of the $1-million North America Cup. Where, then, is Betting Line? The Casie Coleman colt stayed in Canada after the big win for Ontario-bred events and Coleman says he is a handful. “He likes to play,” says Coleman. Betting Line has been persnickety in the winner’s circle after recent races, behavior he has shown before. Coleman told Standardbred Canada that Betting Line “jogs five miles a day” and he is “always bucking and rearing.”

Hoosier Park Racing is adding 12 overnight series and featured overnight races to complement the Dan Patch Stakes program on Friday, Aug. 12. The Dan Patch program will be supported by a 14-race card. Each of the overnight series will be comprised of one preliminary leg with the finals on Aug. 12. Also included is the $30,000 Gregg Haston Memorial Invitational pace. The purse for the 2016 Dan Patch is estimated to be $300,000 for a field comprised of the top ten highest lifetime money earners.

A new era will get underway at America’s oldest lighted harness track on July 25 when Batavia Downs begins its 70th season of live harness racing. Opening night will feature the $100,000 New York Sire Stakes division for two-year-old trotting fillies with a post time of 6:15 p.m. The 2016 season runs through Dec. 10, featuring 70 race dates, including seven matinees and three twilight programs. Live racing will be presented on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights to begin the season. Sunday afternoons will replace Monday nights beginning on July 31. Holiday matinees include Labour Day (Sept. 5) and Columbus Day (Oct. 10). All matinee first-race post times are 1:15 p.m. A special Breeders’ Cup program on Saturday (Nov. 5) at 3:30 p.m. The track invested $125,000 in racetrack improvements, including the re-banking of the turns, the leveling of the straight-aways and 5,000 tons of new surface material. Over $1 million in purse money will be up for grabs in stakes races during the meet. Batavia’s signature stakes event, the $50,000 Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace, will be held on Saturday (Oct. 8) and will draw some of the top older Open pacers from the northeast. The race has become a highly anticipated event by the fans as it presents an opportunity to break the all-age track record each year.

Extraordinary Extras

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

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog

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