Royal Charm Renders $62-Win $122-Place Shocker; Jack Attack For $15; ATB Average Hits 40 Percent

Wednesday, Sept. 14, we could only point players to one show price at Hoosier with our spot-plays tweet. The 19-1 Hot Cakes finished third ($3.80) in Race 9. In Race 7 Ride Wilma Ride (33-1) was sixth and in Race 6 Cruisin On (7-1) broke and was eliminated early, finishing eighth. 

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 big feature score was enough to cover all of the Sept. 17 feature bets. Our sole choice in the Elegantimage Final won and the 1-9 choice was off the board, rocking the tote board and shaking the pools. We gave you Royal Charm ($67.50, $122.00 n/s) – that is not a typo! The huge place price rivals our largest win price, $119.00, of this season so far, which we gave away a few weeks ago.

The other Mohawk features left us flat, mostly due to chalk wins. In the Maple Leaf Trot we were fourth with Flanagan Memory (9-1) as we passed on Resolve (winner) and Hannelore Hanover (second).

Marion Marauder was beaten by the threat we mentioned, Bar Hopping, who came off of a pace “Marion” insisted upon setting by going to the lead. We banked on the improving Winter Harbor (22-1) but he finished fourth.

In the afternoon at Freehold, we lost the Lou Babic with Post Time Dream (23-1).

Friday we were second to a 5-1 winner in the Tioga New York Sires Stakes (NYSS) with the favorite, Tequila Monday ($2.40, $2.10). At Freehold that afternoon we were fourth in the short field with Inuckchuck Chuck (16-1), as we gave up our most-likely winner, Dominion Beach, who won at 3-1.

The weekend began on Thursday, Sept. 15 with three NYSS at Yonkers. There we were second with Rock The Boat ($2.30, n/s), third with Twin B Cowboy (n/s) and Music Is Art (10-1) broke in the third mile and was eliminated.

BREEDERS CROWN COUNTDOWN

The Breeders Crown Countdown (BCC) blog handled stakes events for three divisions on the lucrative Sept. 17 program at Mohawk.

Two-year-old filly trotters battled in The Peaceful Way and the obvious and overwhelming favorite, Ariana G won. In an attempt for an upset, our choice, Dream Together (7-1) broke and finished fifth.

Ten frosh-colt trotters were the attractions in the William Wellwood Final, won by the public’s second choice. We were in striking distance in the stretch with Signal Hill (5-1) when he galloped and faded from a charging third to seventh. Our second choice, Real Lucky Day (50-1) finished on the purse grid, fifth.

Two Milton elims for mare pacers were also on the agenda. The first elim was won by a 52-1 shot that got a super trip and took advantage of the top two public choices that did not fire. Our choice, Waasmula (7-1) cut all the fractions until caught in the stretch, finishing fifth. The second went to the favorite. Our choice, Bedroomconfessions (3-1), was in the lead down the stretch but chased down and passed; she finished fifth.
 
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 58 active horses (a 14-percent win hit rate and a 40-percent in-the-money [ATB] 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

Jack Attack, $15.80, $7.40, $2.80, Batavia
Sacred Valley, $7.90, $4.40, $3.40, Century
Mystical Dew, $5.20, $3.40, $2.80, Freehold
Strong Playin King, $4.20, $2.60, $2.20, Hawthorne
Junior Pride, $3.20, $2.50, $2.30, Batavia
Lil Bit O Jingle, $3.20, $2.70, $2.10, Century
Norma Jean, $3.00, $2.20, $2.10, Northfield
Big Boy Matt, $2.80, $2.10, $2.10 ok, Harrington

Seconds

Julep Hanover, $20.60, $6.80 (Exacta $50.10), Charlottetown
Dante, $6.60, $5.90, Yonkers
Catch The Wave, $4.80, $2.70, Batavia
Shes Heavenly, $4.40, $3.60, Meadowlands
Always A Camotion, $3.60, $3.00, Dayton
Katies Rocker, $3.20, $2.60 (Exacta $17.00), Meadowlands
Rethink Possible, $3.20, $4.80, ok, Rosecroft
Wind Of The North, $2.40, $2.40 ok, Hoosier

Thirds

Angel Or Terror, $8.80, Rosecroft
KC Colt, $6.00, Batavia
Town Temptress, $4.60, Dayton
Ideal Space, $4.30, Charlottetown
In Front Charlie, $4.20, Plainridge
Danzig Moon, $2.40, Rideau-Carleton
Howmacs Pride, $2.10, Charlottetown

News & Notes

Our Little Brown Jug top 10 for the Sept. 22 program at the Delaware, Ohio fair included four pacers that did not drop in the box. They are JJ Flynn, Another Daily Copy, Katies Rocket and Nocturnal Bluechip. A few we did not list have entered. They are: Dr J Hanover, Stolen Glimpse, Big Top Hanover and Spider Man Hanover. Entering from out list are Lyons Snyder, Betting Line, Check Six, Racing Hill, Manhattan Beach, Western Fame and Fernando Hanover. There will be two elimination heats, which we will cover in our Thursday blog, posting in time for an analysis of the other stakes on that program. Watch for the Breeders Crown Countdown blog early Wednesday for coverage of the Jugette program and then our next weekly blog for Little Brown Jug day coverage.

Betting Line, the leader of the glamour-boy pacing division and the “Jug” favorite to win his elim and the final, will retire after his three-year-old season. Hanover Shoe Farms and the owners of Betting Line , which include trainer Casie Coleman, have decided the colt will stand at stud after the 2016 racing season at Pennsylvania’s Hanover Shoe Farms. Betting Line won the North America Cup, the Carl Milstein Memorial and the Battle of the Brandywine and to date has earned $1,502,485.

The ownership group of All Bets Off p, 2, 1:50f 3, 1:48.3f ($2,051,723), is pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement to syndicate and stand the stallion in Ohio beginning in 2017 at Hickory Lane Farm. In the meantime, he will continue to race until the end of this racing season.

All Bets Off has been active and productive during the past four seasons. His ownership group has announced that they have reached an agreement to syndicate and stand the stallion in Ohio. His new duties as a stud begin in 2017 at Hickory Lane Farm. In the meantime, All Bets Off will continue to race until the end of this racing season. He is currently the winner of $2,051,723. 

Harness racing is set to return to British Columbia’s Fraser Downs in October. Programs will begin for two days a week for the remainder of 2016, starting with the meet opener on Thursday, Oct. 6. Fraser will race on Thursdays and Fridays for the first four weeks of the meet before switching to a Sunday-through-Friday schedule on Oct. 30. Fraser will hold qualifiers for stabled horses on Sept. 22 and Sept. 29.

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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