Huge Winners, $86, $53 Top Sires Stakes Slaughter; Mildly-Priced Choices Also Win Money-Making Features

Our Wednesday, Aug. 10 tweets involved the first four races at Running Aces. Due to inclement weather, the program was cancelled after Race 3. We were in the money in the trio before cancellation. In the first two races were second with Officialydangerous ($3.60, $3.00) and Lil Orphan Elmer ($3.00, $2.60). We finished third with Great Quote ($4.00).
 
On various Wednesday nights we tweet for TwinSpires Twitter members from @FrankCotolo –retweeted by @twinspires—and the raceway involved. Losers from each week will appear on the next week’s horses-to-watch (H2W) list unless they race before that blog is published, so watch for them returning to the races on days in between blogs. Watch for special tweets from raceways on various Wednesdays.

The first of two huge winners this weekend came in an Ohio Sires Stakes at Northfield from the H2W list on Aug. 13. The soph-pacing colt was Friskie Cruiser ($86.60, $11.00, $4.20), who beat the huge favorite for an exacta worth $138.40.

Our second highest paying winner came in a feature in a Pennsylvania Sires Stakes (PASS) event at Pocono on Aug. 13. In a mere field of five we gave readers Kiss Me Onthebeach ($53.40, $15.40, $2.20). The top two public choices finished second and third, returning a $2 exacta worth $129.40 and a $2 trifecta worth $209.80.

The second PASS that afternoon at Pocono included our two top choices, Darlinonthebeach ($4.80, $2.40, $2.10) and Call me Queen Be ($2.20, $2.10), returning a $7.60 exacta.

We won the Moni Maker at the Meadows on Aug. 13, as did everyone, with Celebrity Eventsy ($3.00, $2.20, $2.10), though our proposed exacta partners, Haughty (69-1) and Unica Steed (23-1) were off the board.

Saturday afternoon, in PASS action at the Meadows, we were second with Another Daily Copy ($9.00, $5.20) to the public’s second choice and we lost to the favorite in the first PASS with Adrian Hanover (23-1), who finished fourth.

Saturday night’s Carl Milstein Memorial at Northfield was an easy win, as we speculated, for Betting Line ($2.40, $2.10, n/s), while our proposed exacta partner, Duel Of Truth (78-1) finished sixth. Boston Red Rocks scratched. Betting Line won despite a brief galloping episode around the fourth turn.

On Friday, Aug. 12, we were second to Wiggle It Jiggleit in the Dan Patch at Hoosier. Always B Miki ($2.30, $2.10). Our preferred exacta partners bombed, with Shambala ($2.10) in a dead heat for third and Wakizashi Hanover (104-1) sixth.

At Tioga that night it was miserable for us with colts. We lost three Tompkins-Geers events with Lordbullville (142-1), Joe Joe Joe (75-1) and Southwind Diablo (38-1). We faired better with the fillies, taking two seconds with Kiss Kiss ($3.30, $2.90) and Pleasant Roll ($2.90, $3.00 ok).

With the Hambletonian Trail ending with the Aug. 6 classics, we are poised to begin our next annual events blog, The Breeders Crown Countdown (BCC). Beginning on Thursday, Aug. 18, we will again offer two blogs, our main betting blog and the BCC, where we will follow the top performers in each division racing in events leading to the championships in cooperation with the Hambletonian Society, which administers the series. Great wagering races will be analyzed on the BCC blog weekly through the elims and finals, this year in late October at the Meadowlands.

H2W LIST RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas listed are included when a H2W horse finishes second with a race favorite or the first two finishers making up the exacta are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses were listed to complete a cold exacta). The note “ok” determines that prices published are correct even when a show price exceeds a place price or any or all of the prices are the same. This week, there were 49 active horses (a 25-percent win hit rate and a 53-percent in-the-money hit rate).

Please note that some H2W results reflect win, place, show and exotic results occurring by press time but some horses race after the blog is posted (we list them the following week) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review is posted.

Winners

Friskie Cruiser, $86.60, $11.00, $4.20, Northfield
Keeping Optomistic, $21.60, $5.90, $3.00, Batavia
Velocity Reign, $17.20, $8.20, $5.80, Hoosier
Muscles Bound, $8.70, $4.30, $2.70, Mohawk
Rocktavius, $7.60, $2.40, $2.80 ok, Ocean
I Do Hanover, $6.40, $2.30, $2.30 ok, Vernon
Amped Up Hanover, $3.80, $2.20, $2.80 ok, Running Aces
Gallie Bythe Beach, $3.60, $2.60, $2.10, Philadelphia
Look Again Eda, $3.00, $2.20, $2.10, Running Aces
Devil Child, $2.60, $2.20, $2.10, Northfield
Clooney Drummond, $2.20, $2.10, n/s, Monticello
Devious Man, $2.20, $2.10, $2.10 ok, Yonkers

Seconds

Lionbacker Kidd, $12.40, $7.20 (Exacta $37.80), Scioto
Alliegetty, $5.60, $4.00 (Exacta $19.00), Scarborough
Penn, $3.80, $2.80, Scioto
One Bad Shot, $3.60, $2.20 (Exacta $20.40), Ocean
Melodys Monet, $3.40, $2.10, Yonkers
Sammys Cool Win, $3.40, $3.00 (Exacta $10.20), Red Mile
Canadias Bakin, $3.20, $2.20 (Exacta $11.80), Northfield
Keystone Paula, $3.20, $2.40, Yonkers

Thirds

Bluebird Image, $5.80, Hoosier
Call Me Hal, $3.40, Scarborough
Pier Ho Exotic, $3.00, Vernon
Veto Hanover, $3.00, Red Mile
Do Over Hanover, $2.40, Yonkers
Hustling Charley, $2.10, Northfield

News & Notes

The Charlottetown Driving Park’s Gold Cup & Saucer trials will be over on Monday, Aug. 15, with the top-four finishers from both eliminations advancing to the 57^th edition of Prince Edward Island’s signature race next Saturday, Aug. 20. The post draw for the final will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 16. YS Lotus defeated harness racing's richest horse, Foiled Again, winning the first of two $12,500 trials. Because Foiled Again went off at 50 cents to the dollar and finished fourth, YS Lotus paid $8.10 to win, $3.10 to place and $38.80 to show. Place-horse Shades Of Bay paid $2.10 to place and $29.10 to show and the show horse, DGs Camme paid $49.40 to show. Foiled Again still made the final field.

Ohio’s Dayton Raceway is preparing for the start of its third season of live harness racing. A matinee card on Monday afternoon, Sept.12, will be the first of 75 programs through Friday, Dec. 30. America's newest track will follow a five-days-a-week schedule with Monday and Tuesday matinees at 2 p.m. and evening programs at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The only schedule exceptions will be dark days Sept. 19—22 in deference to Little Brown Jug week at the Delaware, Ohio county fairgrounds; and the substitution of Wednesday, Nov. 23 for Thursday, Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving). The projected overall purses for Dayton harness are approximately 40-percent higher than in 2015. The average daily purse distribution will be $90,000 this year; horses will race for over $7 million during the meet.

The 2016 season will feature the $140,000 (est.) Dayton Pacing Derby and $160,000 (est.) Dayton Trotting Derby Sept. 30. Among the pacing nominees are Wiggle It Jiggleit, Always B Miki, Shamballa, Freaky Feet Pete and All Bets Off. On the trotting side, headliners could include Crazy Wow, Maestro Blue Chip, Obrigado, Pinkman and Shake It Cerry. Other major events will be the $200,000 (est.) Ohio Fair Finals night on Oct. 8; and the $200,000 Ohio Sires Stakes championships for older state-sired horses on Saturday, Oct. 15.

A new wager is being introduced for the 2016 season. The “Dayton Flying Pick 6” will be available on the final six races of each program with a guaranteed payoff of at least $3,000 for a unique (single) winning ticket. If no winning ticket is sold, 70 percent of the day's betting pool will be divided among consolation winners while 30 percent will be carried over to the next program’s Pick 6 until a unique winner is awarded.

Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in many standardbred topics at my Hoof Beats blog titled Vast Performances.

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog

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