Two Of Four Frosh Finals Winners With One Asterisk; Public Picks Feature Scores; H2W Strikes 39-Percent ATB Average

We tweeted three at Flamboro Downs last Wednesday, Nov. 16. One scratched. Another, Hart Of Windemere (16-1) finished fourth and the third, Muscles All Over (15-1), finished seventh. Our 16-1 shot’s race was won by a 3-1 shot and our 15-1 shot’s race was won by a 1-5 shot.

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.

Saturday’s frosh stakes at Woodbine presented readers with only one victory. In the Goldsmith Maid our first choice won—that was Magic Presto ($7.10, $3.10, $2.50). Our second choice, Gravitator (11-1), finished ninth-placed-eighth.

A surprise in the Three Diamonds was a long-awaited win by That’s The Ticket. After going with Rockette (74-1), who finished seventh. We passed on “Ticket” for the first time since we hit her at $119.00 to win in August and this was her first win since then (this one paid a mere $13.70). Ticket is the top candidate for our Twin Spires Players’ Horse of the Year as time runs out for that award.

In the Valley Victory, our choice, Andy M (47-1) was racing well in the stretch when he broke and was eliminated as the top public choice won.  As well, Miso Fast (24-1) broke late to be eliminated in the Governor’s Cup, where the top two favorites finished first and second (surprisingly, division-leader Huntsville finished second).

The night before, in the quartet of Autumn Series finals at Woodbine, one of our choices scratched. In the soph-colt trot we were second with The Land Shark ($5.90, $4.30), who completed an exacta with the favorite worth $13.70, while JLs Bad Moon Rising (14-1) finished fifth.

We lost the soph-colt pace with Sure Fired Bet (65-1), who walked around the track eyeing all of the competitors in a miserable effort. Then, in the filly pace we wound up with one of the top choices, Docs Diva (3-1) but she broke in the battle and galloped home eighth.

Thursday, Nov 17’s Delaware Standardbred Fund Final at Dover went to a horse we supported last week, Bags To Riches, while this week’s choice, Automatic Dragon (22-1) was sixth.

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 41 active horses (a 12-percent win hit rate and a 39-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

Amazing Quest, $7.00, $5.80, $3.60, Scarborough
Alarming Quick, $7.60, $3.20, $2.40, Plainridge
Major Muscle, $5.80, $2.70, $2.30, Woodbine
Evil Eva, $4.20, $3.60, $2.10, Scarborough
Official Stripes, $3.80, $2.30, $2.10, Monticello

Seconds

Kristol Pistol, $7.10, $3.40, Fraser
Socoteur Bluegrass, $5.40, $2.40 (Exacta $16.80), Dover
Cold Hearted Shark, $3.60, $2.40 (Exacta $10.00), Northfield
Nabber Again, $3.40, $2.20 (Exacta $20.20), Cal-Expo
Manofmanyimages, $3.00, $2.40, Woodbine
Maddie Doowop, $2.40, $2.10, Northfield
Pas Corn Squeezin, $2.20, $2.10 (Exacta $3,10), Cal-Expo

Thirds

Real Nice Girl, $9.80, Northfield
McCams Mollie May, $7.50, Monticello
Heart Felt, $4.60, Pompano
Selling The Dream, $4.00, Woodbine

News & Notes

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Wakizashi Hanover, winner of the 2015 North America Cup, tried to rebound in the $100,000 Potomac Pace at Rosecroft Raceway after a rough late sophomore season that included two surgeries. Wakizashi Hanover developed “a paralyzed flap in his airway” at the end of the 2015. He raced in June and lost five starts. The Pennsylvania-bred pacer had a second surgery in August, which may boost his racing career for trainers Jim King Jr. and his wife Jo Ann Looney-King. At Rosecroft, “Wakizashi” will face Mel Mara, Shamballa, All Bets Off, Keystone Velocity, Split The House, Dealt A Winner and Mach It So. Wakizashi was on the H2W just after his second surgery.

Some November racing and post time reminders from Yonkers Raceway include post times for the two remaining Sundays. These will be are 11:30 a.m. (Nov. 20) and 11:10 a.m. (Nov. 27). First posts for the two Dec. 4 and 18 cards are to be announced. Also, Yonkers is dark for racing Friday (Nov. 25) and Saturday (Nov. 26). The constants, Mondays/Fridays/Saturdays at 7:10 p.m., and Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. remain, save for the above Thanksgiving weekend. The 2017 dates are unknown as of this post.

Pennsylvania breeder Hanover Shoe Farm has some of the hottest sires in North America and their recently released stud fees reflect their success on the track and in stud. Recent addition Betting Line posts a stud fee of $10,000. Somebeachsomewhere continues to produce winners and costs $20,000. Veteran trotting sire Cantab Hall is also $20,000 a clip. Hambletonian-champ Donato Hanover breeds for $10,000, while Captaintreacherous gets $15,000 as his first crop of racing pacers near racing age.
 
Trainer Ron Burke’s stable earnings hit $20 million for the fourth-consecutive season on Nov. 14. No other trainer in history has ever reached $20 million in purses in a season. In 2014, Burke’s stable set an all-breed record of $28.4 million in purses. He has led the sport in wins and purses for the past seven years and is set to do it again in 2016. For his career, Burke has won 7,471 races and $168 million in purses. The majority of the wins and earnings have been accumulated since 2008 when Burke took over his family’s stable fulltime.

Extraordinary Extras

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

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog

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