Harness Weekly Update: Place-Price Bonanza; Hambo Chalk

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

Friday, Aug. 6

In the last of the Hit/Split Twinspires Pick 4 deal at Hoosier, we supplied only one winner, Heartland Revenue ($6.80, $3.60, $2.20). Individually, we were second in leg two with Sassy Cindy ($19.20, $7.60) and fourth with Can This Be Real (9-1).

Lees Creek Flash (leg one) and Ahdoughnolum (leg four) were scratched.

Saturday, Aug. 7

Aside from the wild, circumstantial finishes in some place slots, the Hambletonian day of stars and stakes was a true-to-form program.

Our attempts to beat a favorite or two were shut down by four huge favorites, a 3-1 and a 7-2, as well as in the main-event wagering, where our personal odds line was addressed in our preview blog.

In the Hambletonian we were offered one overlay, Venerate. At 6-1 on our line, he went off at 10-1. However, he did not finish after he broke at three-quarters. The winner, Captain Corey—son of a trotter whose sire was a pacer—was swelled with support in the seconds before the bell and won as a 6-5 favorite. Thus, the odds line did not fail in its measure; it was moot when the only wager went awry.

In the Hambletonian Oaks we looked for Piper Hanover (14-1) to reboot from two bad trips, but she was no match for the public choice, finishing ninth.

In the Peter Haughton the huge favorite, which we mentioned we tried to beat for price and purpose, was too good for any foe in his division and the crowd knew it. We lost with Letsdoit S (6-1), finishing eighth, and got third with Fast As The Wind ($5.20).

The fans also buried all the good odds in the Jim Doherty where we finished fourth with the second favorite Joviality (2-1) and ninth with Mon Cheval (7-1).

A 3-1 shot won The Cane Pace. We finished fifth with One Eight Hundred (8-1).

The Sam McKee division we chose to address was won by a 7-2 shot while we got sixth with Angers Bayama (13-1).

And the Lady Liberty saw another big favorite victory while we sauntered home seventh with Gia’s Surreal after a strong first half leading the field.

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 21 active horses (a 5% win hit rate and a 57% ATB [across-the-board] hit). Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

Lous Delight, $8.40, $3.60, $2.60, Scioto

Seconds

Crazy Luke Duke, $24.80, $9.80, Scioto
RJZ First Lady, $15.00, $7.00, Scioto
Foreverhillreign, $7.00, $3.20 (Exacta $29.20), Pocono
Chaptiama, $6.60, $4.20, Meadowlands
Golden Paradise, $5.40, $4.00, Hoosier
JL Choochootrain, $4.20, $3.20 (Exacta $16.00), Meadows
Dreamlands Art, $2.50, $2.10, Vernon
Boys Turn, $2.10, $3.40 OK, Vernon

Thirds

Ethan T Hanover, $4.00, Meadowlands
Gertrude Hanover, $2.80, Plainridge
Im A Chloe, $2.80, Vernon

NEWS & NOTES

Hambletonian winner Captain Corey is a trotter with pacer’s blood. He is a son of Googoo Gaagaa, who is a son of pacer Cam’s Rocket. Googoo Gaagaa was a star trotter in Maryland and has been prolific as a trotting sire over the past few years. Very early in his career, Googoo Gaagaa showed he was an exceptional racehorse. In one of his first races on the half-mile at Ocean Downs, he won by 41 lengths, setting the track record of 1:56. Driver Jim Morand said, “He’s a fantastic horse with a huge step. He can trot in 1:55, even in a bull ring.”

Googoo Gaagaa moved to Pocono Downs and broke the world record of 1:50.4 winning the $500,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial. He was not eligible to the Hambletonian but two weeks later he beat Hambo winner Market Share in the Colonial. Corey Callahan drove him to victory. “I've never driven a faster trotting horse,” said Callahan, who was the source of the Corey in the name Captain Corey.

Another Running Aces climate attack, a severe thunderstorm, struck after race four on Aug. 5, and significant rainfall with severe lightning made all eyebrows jump. “The main building took a direct hit from the lightning and lost power to many critical systems and also suffered damage to some critical equipment,” said a track source. The track crew worked to recover the racing surface, and management worked to restore power and repair equipment, but even that caused a lengthy delay while more lightning prevented horses returning to the track.

Extraordinary Extras

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