Harness Weekly Update: Cash Across The Board

The TwinSpires Harness Blog Weekly Update covers our successes and failures from selected features and the horses-to-watch list (H2W).

Friday, May 28

New Jersey Sires Stakes (NJSS) at the Meadowlands delivered a top price for features with a soph-filly trot win by Betassima ($29.20, $16, $8.40), with Imhatra AM S (22-1) finishing sixth-placed-fifth in a judges decision.

In the NJSS colt trot we finished third and fourth respectively with Sonofamistery ($8.80) and Mon Amour (5-1), losing to a 6-1 betting interest.

Saturday, May 29

We took the pair of Miss Versatility divisions at the Meadowlands with Next Level Stuff ($3.20, $2.20, $2.10) with Spoiled Princess (5-1) getting fourth and When Dovescry ($5, $3, $2.20) with No Mas Drama (6-1) back in sixth.

May 30 results from our preview blog analysis will be accounted for in our next Weekly Update.

H2W LIST RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Exactas listed include a H2W horse finishing second to a race-favorite or if the first two finishers are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses are listed—a cold exacta). The note “OK” determines that prices are correct (even when a show price exceeds a place price or all prices are the same).

Please note that some results reflect horses racing after the blog posts (they appear the following week).

This week, there were 42 active horses (a 14% win hit rate and a 45% ATB [across-the-board] hit. Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

Fernado, $31, $14.40, $6.80, Hoosier
Bill Haley N, $10, $4.80, $3.50, Yonkers
Tolly-ho, $7.60, $3.80, $3, Meadowlands
Izoh, $5.40, $2.80, $2.40, Philly
Primo Giovanni, $3.20, $2.60, $2.20, Hawthorne
Midnight Day, $2.60, $2.20, $2.20 OK Northville

Seconds

ER Room, $6.20, $4.60 (Exacta $17.10), Scioto
Delight Kate, $6, $3.20 (Exacta $13.90), Northfield
Followthewind N, $4, $3 (Exacta $7.90), Freehold
Sea Shadows, $3.80, $2.80 (Exacta $8.30), Northfield
Rainbow Writer, $3.40, $2.80 (Exacta $5.20), Northfield
Golden Quest N, $2.20, $2.10, Yonkers
Late Night Date A, $2.40, $2.80 OK, Philly

Thirds

Northern Dali, $9.80, Tioga
KJ Kyra, $6.20, Philly
Always Close, $6, Running Aces
Grant Me This, $5.90, Tioga
Casa Miasa, $5.80
JM Jet Set, $3.40, Scioto

NEWS & NOTES

Opinions for the top contenders of the Meadowlands Pace (July 17) continue. Dave Little puts together his current list of the top 10 contenders. We compare our current choices for the top five next to his:
1. Perfect Sting / Always A Miki
2. Southwind Gentry / Lawless Shadow
3. Abuckeabett Hanover / Perfect Sting
4. Exploit / Southwind Gentry
5. One Eight Hundred / Charlie May

Next week we will take on the Meadowlands’ Ken Warkentin’s Hambletonian top 10 contenders. We will match his top five choices as of that date while the glamour-boy (and girl) trotters weave their ways through the stakes races leading to the first Saturday in August when the world of harness racing focuses on the $1 million classic, its sister event the Hambletonian Oaks, and a host of star-studded races at The Meadowlands.

Woodbine/Mohawk prepares for racing to continue with many qualifiers. May 27’s session was huge. We have narrowed those we feel will come to the post with great favor to succeed after the extended lockdown. You will see most of these in future H2W lists. Horses’ names are in alphabetic order. Trainers’ names follow in parenthesis. Century Heineken (McNair); Cyclone Sister (Galluci); Island Beach Boy (Barrieau); No Better Joy (Comegna); Powertrain (Galluci); Tempest Tale (Galluci).

Freehold’s 48-day winter-spring meet ended May 29. Harness racing ceases at the New Jersey half-mile oval for the next three months—the track’s annual summer break. Pari-mutuel harness racing programs resume on Friday, Aug. 27. Our H2W will follow Freehold regulars that are between placements on the list as they ship to race elsewhere in the East or Midwest.

Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in our columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet at Harness Racing Update