Mohawk Monster, $47; Yonkers Power Plays Land $48 Exacta, $311 Trifecta; Two Of Three Miami Ohio-Breds

Although the highest win price came this weekend from our H2W (horses-to-watch) list, we delivered some strong, valuable prices to win and in exotics in our features.

Saturday, April 29’s featured Ohio-bred Lucky Buckeye events for aged pacers and trotters delivered two of three winners, both in the trotting miles. We won with Kestral ($5.80, $4.40, $2.80) and Another Breath ($6.40, $4.00, $3.60), while losing the pace with Over Friskie (40-1) who raced miserably, finishing ninth.

The two Dexter Cup elims from that afternoon were the overture for The Hambletonian Trail, which begins next week on TwinSpires. See the News & Notes section below. The Yonkers’ events were strewn with galloping and one of our contenders, Madison Muscle (46-1) joined in misbehaving in the second elim. Our other two soph-colt trotters, in the first elim, included Sir John F ($2.10) getting third and Texican (13-1) getting fourth. The winner of the first elim was the only one of the two winners eligible to the Hambletonian.

Friday night, April 28, was a parade of profit in our Power Plays at Yonkers. We presented the winner, Ronny Bugatti ($20.20, $6.80, $3.80), the place horse, Wagon Master ($4.20, $3.10) for an exacta worth $48.60. We also nailed the show spot with Spinarama ($5.70) for a trifecta worth $311.00. Our fourth contender, Have A Parodi (27-1) finished seventh. If you did not use him or added the favorite, Versado, to a superfecta with our trio, you cashed for $1,093.00.

Thursday, April 27’s Power Plays at Philly produced quite the opposite from the Yonkers fling. None of our four contenders hit the board, with one of them, the favorite, God Forbid N, breaking and finishing eighth. You Canbeanangel (3-1) too fourth to complete the superfecta; Alwaysafirsttime (25-1) was fifth and Smart Zone (50-1) finished seventh.

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.

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 60 active horses (a 17-percent win hit rate and a 52-percent ATB [across-the-board] 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

Roll With Sparky, $47.90, $19.30, $5.90
Western Fame, $16.80, $5.20, $3.00, Meadowlands
Haileysgonedancing, $15.80, $6.60, $4.40, Pocono
Te Kawau N, $10.40, $4.50, $4.60, Yonkers
Limitless, $9.50, $6.10, $7.10 ok, Buffalo
Smiley Bayama, $8.20, $3.20, $2.40, Charlottetown
’cuda Hall, $6.60, $3.80, $2.60, Plainridge
Pop Pop Joe, $4.40, $3.20, $2.60, Rosecroft
One Chief, $4.00, $2.80, $2.20, Cal-Expo
Olivias Way, $3.10, $2.40, $2.10, Flamboro

Seconds

Rockinalltheway, $8.20, $4.20, Scarborough
Hangon Man, $7.40, $3.80, Northfield
Italian Rebel, $5.80, $2.40 (Exacta $23.60), Saratoga
Bella Pallazo, $5.50, $3.70 (Exacta $31.30), Flamboro
JW Renegade, $5.20, $2.40 (Exacta $19.00), Rosecroft
Mergatroid, $5.20, $3.60, Plainridge
Northern Matador, $4.20, $2.60 (Exacta $31.20), Yonkers
Mercurio N, $3.50, $2.40 (Exacta $5.10), Monticello
VIP Bayama, $3.40, $2.80 (Exacta $13.40), Pocono
JK Will Power, $3.20, $2.40, Meadowlands
Camtizzy, $3.00, $2.40 (Exacta $9.00), Scarborough
Beechwood Tiger, $2.80, $2.10 (Exacta $8.60), Charlottetown
 
Thirds

The Green Knight, $13.80, Saratoga
Selena, $8.20, Scarborough
Lucksgottachange, $4.40, Scarborough
Mr Censi, $3.80, Pocono
Moments Of Joy, $3.00, Philadelphia
Musician, $2.80, Cal-Expo
Soul Diva, $2.80, Cal-Expo
Modern Day Clyde, $2.70, Rideau-Carleton
Kennel Browser, $2.10, Plainridge

News & Notes

It’s that time of the year when the TwinSpires harness blog partners with the Hambletonian Society to bring you The Hambletonian Trail, a spin-off blog featuring analysis of races for soph-colt-and-filly trotting stakes from May 6 through Aug. 5, when we report live from The Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day. Follow and wager the races along the “Trail” as we apply our usual strategies to stakes that include eligible fillies for the Hambletonian Oaks and colts and fillies for the classic Hambletonian. In league with our weekly blog covering all other activities, our harness racing coverage increases and we aim for profits in all affairs.

Speaking of Hambletonian Day, one of the events on the stakes-filled program, the US Pacing Championship, will be renamed the Sam McKee Memorial beginning this August. The honor is bestowed for the sport’s late announcer and broadcaster who passed away March 8 at the age of 54. The Meadowlands will also attach McKee’s name to its broadcast center, which McKee designed when the new grandstand opened in 2013. It will now be called the Sam McKee SNY Broadcast Center. The official dedication is scheduled for Aug. 4, the night before the Hambletonian.

Tioga Downs launches its 12^th harness racing season on May 6 at 5 p.m., combining opening day with the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The season features new post times: Friday and Saturday nights will begin at 6:50 p.m. while Sundays and holidays will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the exception of May 28, which will start at 6:50 p.m. Grand Circuit racing will be featured again, including a leg of the Graduate Series, Tompkins-Geers and Reynolds events. New York-state breds will be spread out through the meet, including the Empire Breeders Stakes, the Roll With Joe Open Pace, the Miss Versatility and two events formerly held at Vernon Downs—the Crawford Farms Open Trot and the Joie De Vie Open Mare Trot as well as the Artiscape Open Mare Pace. 

Extraordinary Extras

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

For Thom Pye cartoons, informative harness history and more, click here ~