Harness Weekly Update: Pick 3, Exactas, And More

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

Thursday, June 10

The Running Aces Pick 3 was a small score ($5.90 on a 50-cent base) but considering the low risk of the three favorites involved, their high probabilities in the individual race exotics, and the dead-heat win, these three races were highly profitable.

In leg one we hit with the favorite, SD Watch Me Now ($2.40, $2.10 n/s) with our outsider, Doubleontherocks (10-1), finishing fourth.

In leg two we won with dead-heat partner Anna B ($3.40, $3.80, $2.40 OK) with Rockin With Lou (13-1) fourth and Kiss On The Lips (27-1) sixth. Hottieonthehorion shared the DH for a $6.60 ($1) exacta.

The third leg exploded with our winner Shesureissomething ($8.00, $5.00, $2.80) and a cold $28.00 exacta for having Bearly Behaving ($9.40, $4.80) second. If you used the favorite, Alwaysalittlemore (mentioned in our analysis), in the triple you collected another $53.05.

Friday, June 11

The Hambletonian-hopeful Open at the Meadowlands was wrapped in troubling traffic. Favorite Really Fast broke and was eliminated at the start. Then, at the half, Lindymusclemania (3-1) broke, galloping home second for judges disapproval (placed fourth). The 94-1 Calle Palema was placed second from third. Unaffected was the wire-to-wire Marcus Melander 6-1 Sonofamistery. Our prospect, Mon Amour (30-1), watched most of what happened while lagging behind foes, finishing a walking seventh.

Saturday, June 12

We could not beat Manchego but we were best of the rest, finishing second with Felicityshagwell ($4.80, $3.60). The $1 exacta paid $3.80.

In the second mare trot we were right on again and the crowd followed us with When Dovescry ($4.20, $2.40, $2.10).

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 36 active horses (a 19% win hit rate and a 36% ATB [across-the-board] hit. Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

P-drive Hanover, $15.00, $6.00, $4.40, Meadows
Ulster, $11.00, $4.80, $3.20, Vernon
Casa Miasa, $8.40, $4.20, $3.40, Hawthorne
Sarah Gator, $4.80, $3.20, $2.60, Meadows
On A Streak, $3.00, $2.30, $2.10, Yonkers
London Seelster, $2.80, $2.10, $2.10 OK, Buffalo
Shiplap, $2.10, $2.10, $2.10 OK, Monticello

Seconds

Innisfallen, $8.80, $6.20, Meadowlands
Nytro J, $7.60, $2.80, Northville
Frisky Joe, $4.30, $3.30 (Exacta $57.00), Vernon
Elver Hanover, $3.40, $2.20, Pocono

Thirds

Hayek, $3.60, Philly
Siesta Beach, $2.60, Yonkers

NEWS & NOTES

Check this out: In New Zealand, a Grade 1 freshman trot was won by Double Delight, a pacing-bred filly. Trainer Tony Herlihy trains the daughter of Captain Treacherous out of a Bettor’s Delight mare. On the half-mile track, Double Delight was one of the dozen two-year-olds in the heavy traffic that kept the field four- to five-wide in the narrow going. Double Delight paid at 3-1.

Opinions for the top contenders of the Meadowlands Pace (July 17) continue. Dave Little put together his week six list of the top 10 contenders. We compare our current choices for the top five next to his.

1. Southwind Gentry / Always A Miki
2. Abuckabett Hanover / Lawless Shadow
3. Perfect Sting / Southwind Gentry
4. Exploit / Perfect Sting
5. One Eight Hundred / Summa Cum Laude

For Ken Warkentin’s 2021 Hambletonian top 10 contenders, week three, we compare our top five choices.

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

Freehold concluded a 47-day winter/spring meet on May 29. The betting public was in agreement a remarkable 44.49% of the time, but that was less than their 2019 opinions which won at a 50% clip. Total handle rose 31% from 2019’s winter/spring meet. Handle per race was $41,083, an increase of 8.45%. In 2021, 20 cards handled more than $500,000, with six days handling at least $600,000. The high-water mark of the season came on Jan. 2, when $701,670 was wagered on a 13-race card.

A golden-age horseman has passed on. Ben Webster, a New York racing stalwart, left us on June 7. His 47-year career was centered within the once-thriving half-mile circuit of Roosevelt to Yonkers raceway as part of the historic and sometimes controversial drivers’ community. On the road, Ben won a Little Brown Jug, a Hambletonian, Messenger Stake and Kentucky Futurity. He won 4,378 races and his horses earned $43,197,645.

Extraordinary Extras

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