Harness Weekly Update: Features Cheap; $42 Top Win

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

Thursday, July 1

At the Meadows, frosh-filly sires stakes paces were both won by the favorites. In division one we had a dead-heat participant for third, Somesweetsomewhere ($2.20). In the second division we finished sixth with Showmeursweetside (6-1) and seventh with Hoffman Hanover (8-1).

Friday, July 2

Trying to beat the favorites was unproductive at Yonkers on its big stakes final program. We won with one of the public choices, Test Of Faith ($2.10, $2.10, $2.10 OK), getting second with Heart Of Mine ($4.60, $2.80) for a $3.20 exacta. Classicist (30-1) finished fourth.

In the Yonkers Trot, Mon Amour (24-1) broke and finished seventh and On A Streak broke, finishing sixth. And in the Messenger final, Mysweetboymax (80-1) was sixth.

Saturday, July 3

The four Meadowlands Grand Circuit events brought us a $29.10 exacta with the favorite winning and our choice completing the count with Gia’s Surreal ($14.00, $6.20).

In the Joie De Vie trot, we had Ramona Hill (2-1) who broke at the start and was eliminated.

In the one of two Roll With Joe events, we finished seventh with Mach N Chees (45-1), and we were second with Lindy The Great ($7.80, $3.00) in the Crawford Farms.

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 33 active horses (a 24% win hit rate and a 58% ATB [across-the-board] hit. Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

YS Joe, $42.00, $5.80, $3.60, Northfield
Noahs Mill, $7.80, $4.10, $3.30, Buffalo
Sir Cromwell, $5.40, $2.80, $2.60, Meadows
Ainthesamewithoutu, $5.20, $2.80, $2.60, Meadows
Iteration, $3.20, $2.20, $2.10, Yonkers
Marquis Lafayette, $3.20, $2.20, $2.10, Plainridge
Powertrain, $2.50, $2.10, $2.20 OK, WoMo
Dream Chapter, $2.40, $2.10, $2.10, Plainridge

Seconds

Carson Hill, $5.00, $3.20 (Exacta $9.30), Plainridge
Century Heineken, $4.90, $3.50 (Exacta $7.50), WoMo
Rojo Caliente, $4.60, $3.80, Running Aces
Trade Secret, $4.30, $3.50 (Exacta $24.20), WoMo
Bet Er All, $3.20, $3.40 OK, Northfield
Ideal Cowboy, $3.00, $2.60, Meadows
Too Many Moons, $2.90, $2.20, WoMo
Meadowbrook Tiger, $2.60, $2.10, Hawthorne

Thirds

Joey Bats, $2.60, Plainridge
Wisenheimer, $2.60, Pocono
Rhodatoldme, $2.20, Monticello

NEWS & NOTES

Opinions for the top contenders of the Meadowlands Pace (July 17) continue. Dave Little’s week nine list of the top 10 contenders is official. We compare our choices for the top five next to his.

1. Abuckabett Hanover/ Abuckabett Hanover
2. One Eight Hundred / Lawless Shadow
3. Perfect Sting / American Courage
4. Southwind Gentry / One Eight Hundred
5. American Courage / Always A Miki

For Ken Warkentin’s 2021 Hambletonian top 10 contenders, we compare top fives.

1. Venerate / Venerate
2. In Range / Sonofamistery
3. On A Streak / On A Streak
4. Really Fast / Mon Amour
5. Cuatro De Julio / In Range

Northville Downs in Michigan takes a live-racing hiatus until September. Some of the horses campaigning in the 2021 meet may continue to race in the Midwest and are likely to be entered at pari-mutuel meets including Northfield, Scioto, and Hawthorne. If they do, watch our H2W list for the date and race. Others may go on the fair circuit, where they race for purses but in most cases no wagering is permitted.

In Florida, where Pompano Park Harness is teetering on the brink of official closure, a news article in the Florida Sun Sentinel reported its demise. Most interesting is the author’s obvious unfamiliarity with the sport. Calling horsemen “the harness racers” certainly shows it, but including a definition of the sport—assuming no reader knows a thing about it—appears at the article's end: “Harness racing resembles a scene from the iconic film ‘Ben-Hur,’ where racers ride in two-wheel carts pulled by horses.” Really?

Extraordinary Extras

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