More Mohawk Elim Action, State-Bred Champ Challenges Adorn Weekend Programs With Betting Opportunities

Both sides of the North America border host lucrative harness features and we are on top of them with suggested contenders for star standardbreds in Ontario, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. So is his week’s Breeders Crown Countdown, which covers preps for the Canadian Trotting Classic and Simcoes for glamour-boy pacers.

The TwinSpires horses-to-watch list (H2W) suggests plays in the score of overnights filling North America harness programs. These exclusive choices are great for all types of wagers. No other handicappers cover this much activity and few can brag as much about profiting from cold choices. You won’t find our best winners on any on-line or hard copy source. Take these horses seriously when constructing your wagers.

PEACEFUL WAYS

On Thursday, Sept. 8, Mohawk we begin the features for the weekend with frosh-filly trotters at Mohawk. Two $30,000 elims for the Peaceful Way final next week are the evening’s top races.

Nine fire with expectations in round one. Jimmy Takter’s Thats All Moni may get the bset of the public’s win money on his resume, though she is the only Cantab Hall product in the crew. One of two Muscle Hill fillies could be the upset element—Cameron Hill.

The second elim features only eight and Takter’s Ariana G will be a weighty favorite. The solo Cantab Hall gal is  The Erm and there is no reason she won’t improve. The same goes for Stuck In My Spanks, from Manofmanymissions’ first crop. Maybe that is the triactor in some form or another.

EMPIRICAL STAKES

New York Sires Stakes (NYSS) splits are the highlights at Yonkers (soph-colt trotters) on Friday, Sept. 9.

Two $83,000-plus splits are on the Yonkers bill. Dante shows up on the H2W list after failing last week at Monticello. He and the others will have a way to go to catch Dayson, the obvious choice but perhaps Thats A Bad Boy will be smartly placed early and be able to upset at a good price.

The other NYSS mile will feature Hambo-colt The Royal Harry, who aside from that credential is not really much better than most in this field. Dan Daley could sweep both of these since he has a good shot at a good price here with Royal Bachelor who could play a big role in a hefty exotic being anywhere in the mix.

WELLWOOD WARS

A pair of $30,000 William Wellwood elims are on the Mohawk program on Sept. 9 for two-year-old trotting colts.

Rubio, Takter’s frosh soldier, looks to sweep the event with a win here and in the final. As usual, team Takter is all out with its frosh members and team Burke is on board again to challenge for the bulk of the big purses. What The Hill makes a lot of sense; he’s a Muscle Hill boy with nothing but improvement going for him. Then again, so is Tony Alagna’s Signal Hill, who may be worth the investment as the aforementioned two crowd the win pool.

The second elim brings back Mountain Of Love, who we backed last week in a Champlain Stake and who raced boldly to finish third. Here, with a pair of Takter boys and a Burke boy going, Mountain Of Love should be the worthwhile bet.

ELEGANT TROTTERS

Nine soph-filly trotters line up for the first of two $35,000 Elegantimage elims on the Sept. 9 card. Caprice Hill will shine as the dominating win wager but we will have to leave those supporters to their pennies and back Jangone. Per Henriksen won’t attract dollars, which is good for us who realize he has a couple of very good and strong trotters, of which Jangone is one. “Caprice” has some win-pool competition with Celebrity Eventsy and that will only help Jangone’s odds, as well as his chances to beat Caprice.

Also coming from a good performance in the Casual Breeze is Dream Child, who we had second last week while Flowers N Songs, also in this field, brought a sub-par mile to the event, finishing fifth. However, Dream Child will be noticed in this soft field of fillies which gives us a shot with Pink Pistol. She is as good as any of them here but the crowd will only penalize her for what appear to be bad races, thus leaving us with a price. If she improves enough to win, she will have a major shot at another upset—in the final.

PA CHAMPS

The Meadows hosts Pennsylvania Sires Stakes (PASS) championships on Saturday, Sept. 10. These are $252,000 finals that feature the best of the four divisions bred in the state.

Soph-filly pacers are first. The best in this division are all state-breds and they are all here for the fray. The strong field offers a lot of talent and, therefore, even with the pair of dominating fillies—Pure Country and Darlinonthebeach—there could be an investment worth the bet. Ross Croghan has three in the 10-horse field, including the 1-hole starter Call Me Queen Be. Newborn Sassy and I Said Diamonds have also made some big money. But look at post 8. There is Shesasmokinlady, who has eight wins for 11 starts. She wins or stays off the grid and here she will be let go at a prime price.

The soph-filly trot is next, with 10 PASS gals. This division has some strong earners from the PASS program. Takter’s three gals are not the stars of this crew. Betting-wise, Burke’s Hot Curry from post 10 (inside) could be a good spot for a big mile and at a decent price.

Soph-colt pacers take off next, sans the division’s top few because they don’t qualify. But six of the 10 are from the Burke barn, including the obvious crowd’s choice, Check Six. You don’t have much to choose from the other four, unless you want to give Western Fame one more shot. He needs a good win if he is going to the Little Brown Jug, so maybe this is the place, the time and certainly Takter’s pacer would pay more than a Takter entry does usually.

Some of the glamour-boy Hambo trotters meet again in this championship with a few others from Keystone sires. Three lesser performers from the Takter barn are here, though Milligan’s School may wind up the crowd’s choice. He broke last week when we backed him but even if he stays flat, he can be beaten here. This is a good spot to take a Hambo failure that could find his glory among this restless group. That colt is Hollywood Highway. He is one of the only members of the Hambo group that has not come back to win and here he could get the trip of his life, guided by John Campbell, who can produce longshots because the crowd has long since given up on his calls. This one makes sense and can pay very well.

TROTTING SYRUP

Two $40,000 Maple Leaf Trot elims are on tap, so to speak, at Mohawk on Sept. 10. There are only six older trotters in each elim but they are all very familiar by now.

The first sextet offers Resolve as the public choice, no doubt, but this could be Shake It Cerry’s biggest mile as an older trotter, no less against males. Expect her to look a lot like she did at three, commanding the fractions and taking advantage of them as her elders strain to accommodate the rhythm.

The second sextet features the supplemented Hannelore Hanover, in it to make back the connections’ investment with a sweep of the elim and final and raring to beat this group again and not for the last time this season. So, in a small field there will be some big prices, one of which will be JL Cruze. He is a good upset choice among them and if he shows any of his trotting talent on this slick course, he could topple the elim field if not the final.

OHIO HEROES

Two major Ohio events, named after two major Ohio horsemen, tip the Sept. 10 program at Scioto. The $225,000 Jim Ewart Memorial hosts older pacers and the $100,000 Chip Nobel Memorial tests older trotting pacers.

The “Ewart” attracted the best. Wiggle It Jiggleit, Always B Miki and Freaky Feet Pete meet again, along with their perennial chasers to make up a field of nine. “Miki” gets the best post this time, leaving from the 4 hole, and will finally be able to take early command. With or without challenge, Miki should turn the tables on his recent failure to “Wiggle.” In essence, Miki is a better horse than Wiggle because he is not one-dimensional. Wiggle tries to win every race the same way, grasping his talent for speed as his greatest weapon. We have seen how it has also been his greatest enemy and in this, where you should get a fair price for Miki, Wiggle will be shaken down.

The Chip Nobel event attracted only seven trotters, arguably of equal talent. This is the perfect stage for Wind Of The North, who, on paper, doesn’t grab the eye of handicappers. But he should be full of speed and have the rest of these guys chasing and if another presses to take the lead early, “North” won’t go south come the stretch.

PHILLY FROSH CHAMPS

On Sept. 11, Philadelphia handles PASS champ rounds for freshmen. For the sake of brevity on this weekend-heavy blog, here are our suggested contenders for those affairs.
Two-year-old colt trot: Affair Of Honor
Two-year-old filly pace: Agent Q
Two-year-old filly trot: Chezatter
Two-year-old colt pace: The Wall

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 LIST

Bangor
+9/8/16, Maras World R1; Pennthouse R6

Batavia
9/9/16, +Dash For The Cash R8; +Before I Die R9
9/10/16, Prince Jubillee R6;
 
Century
9/9/16, +Never Say Sorry R2; +They Call me Rosie R3; +Dickies Motel R6
 
Freehold
9/8/16, Cheyenne Patti R6
9/9/16, +Nora Standt R10
 
Harrington
9/12/16, +Bad Boy Matt R3; +Gimme The Pacifics R8
 
Hawthorne
9/8/16, Pocket Party R3
 
Hoosier
9/9/16, Hector B R1; Over Friskie R13

Meadowlands
9/9/16, +Waffle Cone R1
9/10/16, +Southwind Diablo R3

Meadows
9/10/16. +Jimmy William R3
 
Mohawk
9/9/16, Lady Shadow R9
9/10/16, +Bid Writer R1; +Southwind General R4; +Classic Pro R8
 
Monticello
9/8/16, Icanflylikeangel R2; Strong Signal R4; City Kid R6
 
Northville
9/10/16, +Threesocsago R4; Irish Inda Harley R5 
 
Plainridge
9/8/16, +Cover Model R5
 
Pocono
9/10/16, JJ Flynn R10
 
Red Mile
9/8/16, +Docs Suzie R5
 
Rideau-Carleton
9/8/16, +Breaking Bad R2; Tiguan Seelster R5; Surveillance R9
 
Vernon
9/9/16, +Total Freedom R6
9/10/16, _Manceiver R7; Villiam Tell R10

Yonkers
9/8/16, Simple Saver N R4; +Dante R5; Gallant Seelster R10


Ray Cotolo contributes to this blog