Hoosier Rocks On October’s Sunset

Launching into November, division leaders and scallywag upset hopefuls aim at the month’s last two weeks, when The Meadowlands presents the elims and finals of the Breeders Crown. While the thoroughbred world presents its parade of stars at Santa Anita with the two-day Breeders Cup festival, Hoosier Park gathers a number of standardbred stars for blast of stakes on the last day of October.

This week the Breeders Crown Countdown offers an essay on Hoosier’s The Monument Circle stakes on Oct. 31, with a focus on Always B Miki, the soph-colt pacer that may be the best in the division but is not eligible to the “Crown.” Will a win in this star-studded field incite a supplement to the elim and final? We link to the “Countdown” blog from this TwinSpires address for coverage of races through the rest of the season leading to the championship events in November, in cooperation with the Hambletonian Society and TwinSpires. We will be coverning the Crown finals live from The Meadowlands on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22.

HARNESS OCTOBER – Ending after this Friday, Oct. 31, TwinSpires is offering harness bettors some great deals when you wager on standardbreds at any racetrack we carry. Check out the details by clicking here.

Moni Maker

The glamour-girl trotters are still chasing Shake It Cerry and in the $193,000 Moni Maker stakes they will do the same. Her main competition, though it has turned out to be weaker than originally estimated, is the other Jimmy Takter-trained filly, Lifetime Pursuit. We think her biggest threat here is the local filly, Hudson Jesse, who won as our second choice in last week’s sires stakes final. She will add a few bucks to an exacta with “Cerry,” though most inner-race exotics are bound to be small short of a huge outsider getting second.

Nadia Lobell

Soph-filly pacers go for $176,500 in this Grand Circuit event, one that stacks up as a competitive mile. One local princess pacer tightens the gap with the national heroines, who usually have the edge in this affair that has been raced at many tracks since the demise of Garden State Park.

Color’s A Virgin, our choice and the winner of the Jugette, is here and she has been nothing but brilliant through the fall season. She faces some challenges from the inside, including an improving local, Weeper, along with Gallie Bythe Beach (a Jugette elim winner), Precocious Beauty, an inconsistent competitor but recent winner, Uffizi Hanover, who has been dull but is still a looming threat, and Table Talk, a late-closing opportunist.

Color’s A Virgin is ineligible to the Crown and this race could be cause for using deep pockets for her connections to supplement her. A Crown win could mean a divisional title, considering this group has not produced another filly as consistent. This is a great race to find an outside contender, though, because “Virgin” is bound to take too much money and may be considered vulnerable.

Gallie Bythe Beach comes off a sick scratch but a bit of a rest just the same and she may continue improving as she has been with a slight edge coming from post 1 here. If she gets a good spot early and can shake free, she will be awesome down the lane late and if Virgin works too hard due to duels with a few others, “Gallie” may rally at a price.

Carl Erskine

A huge purse of $230,000 awaits soph-colt trotters in the Carl Erskine Trot. But nine of them have to settle for second through fifth shares with Father Patrick leaving from post 1 after a massacre of his American-National foes at Balmoral.

E L Titan will be the danger and an upset in a very close finish would not be a shocker. But she will have to deal with local stars Rose Run Parker and Rompaway Galaxy, both which may dull her effort to defeat the great “Patrick.” The better exactas should include either of the locals and triples worth some dough may include both.

Another Derby

The $211,500 Hoosier Park Pacing Derby attracted the usual lot of free-for-all elders and look who’s back—Sweet Lou. The public may be down on him but we are embracing his return, given the fact that losing a few after 10 dynamic wins over these types was his own doing, that is, when “Lou” is present, it is his race to lose.

Good for us is the possibility that we may get a price on Lou for the first time in a spell. Burke’s Clear Vision just beat Burke’s Foiled Again in the Dayton Derby; Bolt The Duer fans are revved up from his recent performances; Thinking Out Loud won again recently off of blazing fractions offered by others (the “Bolt” style of winning); and Night Pro may have loyal locals supporting him, though he has proven he cannot keep up with this bunch. So, we’ll take Lou, the best of Burke’s sextet in this group, especially if the public has soured on him.

H2W Legend

Review our choices and follow the wagering at the prescribed track. These are possible contenders we have judged from reviewing races. The horses’ names are listed beneath the name of the track after the date they will be racing. The race in which they are entered (R and race number) follows. If a + is in front of a horse’s name it means it is appearing on the list for the second (and last time) because it failed to win the first time it appeared. An “ae” signals the horse is entered on the also-eligible list. If a horse is listed twice, refer to the entries on the night of the race since a horse may enter in more than one race. Types of wagering on any of the H2W listed horses are based on your judgment. If you have any questions, email us at TwinSpires.

H2W

Cal Expo
11/1/14, +Village Benjamin R1; Hot Cowboy R4
11/2/14, +Fork In The Road R4; Regal Heir R7; +Hollywood Star R9; +Toucam Sam R10

Freehold
11/1/14, +Andwin Hanover R8

Maywood
10/31/14, Crime Of Passion R9

Meadows
10/31/14, +Westport R9; +Object Of Art R10; Dibs R11; +Van Grundy Hanover R11
11/1/14, +Fortissimo R4; +Angelo J Fra R8

Pocono
11/1/14, Doo Wop Hanover R11

Pompano
11/1/14, +Tumblin Dice R1; +Sky Lauxmont R1; +Cascata R5; Mr Dennis R6

Rosecroft
11/1/14, +Jenkins Creek R2; +Classic Mosee R4 

Saratoga
11/1/14, +Pan Grad R1; +Sky Is The Limit R10

Scarborough
10/31/14, +Handsoffmycanoli ae R2; +Bestfillyintown R5; +Muzzysearlybloomer R7; +Kate At The Gate R8; Titan De Vie R9; +Bolero Loupet R11

Vernon
10/31/14, My Friend Charlie R3

Yonkers
10/31/14, +DW’s Ny Yank R8
11/1/14, +Kiwi Ideal N R4; Can He Go R4

Ray Cotolo contributes to each edition.