Yonkers Series’ Consolations Nabbed; Philly Tops Win Prices And Petite Power Plays; Exotic Partners Parade Scores

At the top of the features list this weekend, on April 22, the George Morton Levy and Matchmaker consolations and finals at Yonkers offered a variety of winners—of which we had two (both consolations), along with two on-the-board finishers (in the finals).

We lost the main event, the “Levy” final, which was surprisingly not a win for Missile J ($2.10), either. Though he made up a lot of ground in two moves, Missile J, the dead-on favorite, finished third. Speedy quarters favored the winning 11-1 shot on the inside.

In the Matchmaker Final we were closer, closing late for second with Medusa ($10.20, $8.60), who lost to a 5-1 shot with a ground-saving trip, also against a speedy early few, with the favorite finishing fourth.

We won the Levy Consolation with Clear Vision ($8.40, $4.20, $3.60) and almost snagged the exacta, as our proposed partner, Caviart Luca ($4.70) took third to complete a trifecta with the public choice, who finished second. That trifecta paid $85.50.

We also gave you the Matchmaker Final with Hidden Land ($9.50, $5.90, $2.90), though our second choice, Betabcool, was fifth.

Also on April 22, the “Hackett” at Miami Valley for soph-colt pacers looked like it would be another win for us except for Major Nemesis (5-1) making a mis-step at three-quarters while leading from the start and finishing eighth-placed-ninth. The night before, April 21, the Hackett for soph-filly pacers found our 68-1 shot Won For Gigi ($14.20) getting third.

Thursday’s Power Plays at Philly produced mild prices for exotics as we nailed three of four of the participants. The hugely popular favorite, Dr Js Kiss ($2.40, $2.10, $2.10) won, with Freakonomics ($2.40, $2.10) getting the place, and Moments Of Joy ($3.00) taking the show spot. Fidanas Fastbreeze (58-1) broke and was eliminated, finishing eighth and leaving us no chance to pump up the exotic prices. The exacta paid $4.00 and the trifecta paid $7.00.

Our Wednesday spot-play tweets on, April 19 brought in two exotic elements, though none of the three were winners. The best finisher was Zebs Cam Bo ($4.00, $3.20), accompanying the public’s second choice winner for an exacta. Jed Kiss Squaking ($4.80) was third to play a role in the triple and superfecta, and Hangon Man (10-1) finished fourth.

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 48 active horses (a 17-percent win hit rate and a 50-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

Glenferne Dreamer, $17.00, $6.00, $2.80, Philadelphia
Bluenose Gal, $12.20, $4.80, $3.40, Philadelphia
Barry Hanover, $9.50, $4.90, $2.10, Buffalo
Santa Fe Beachboy, $8.40, $3.50, $2.70 (*Exacta $13.60), Yonkers
Artful Way, $8.20, $4.40, $2.80, Meadowlands
Road Show Vic, $7.40, $6.40, $2.20, Plainridge
Crombie A, $7.00, $3.20, $2.40, Philadelphia
Shanghai Warrior, $2.50, $2.20, $2.10, Saratoga

 Seconds

Secret Renegade, $10.60, $6.00 (Exacta $52.40), Scarborough
Why Not Dream, $7.60, $5.80 (Exacta $23.60), Freehold
Cantoria, $5.20, $4.00, Cal-Expo
Lolas Cruiser, $4.30, $3.20 (Exacta $15.00), Monticello
Fly Away, $3.20, $2.60, Cal-Expo
Catalyst, $3.00, n/s (Exacta $7.00), Freehold
Whoyoucallinafool, $3.00, $3.40 ok (Exacta $11.20), Miami
Black Water Road, $2.80, $2.40 (Exacta $5.40), Northville
Always At My Place, $2.50, $2.10 (*Exacta $13.60), Yonkers
 
Thirds

Manwithamission, $7.10, Yonkers
Vinnies Valentine, $5.80, Monticello
Scary Harry, $4.00, Hoosier
Pocket Novel, $3.70, Century
American Gal K, $3.60, Meadows
Mar Dream, $3.20, Cal-Expo
Nirvana Seelster, $3.10, Mohawk
Prada Spur, $2.20, Buffalo

News & Notes

In our last Update section we reported sire Dragon Again’s retirement from stud duty. The productive racehorse and sire of the winners of more than $122 million went to Ohio’s Sugar Valley Farm and then, sadly, on April 19, was euthanized. Connections said the stallion was suffering from a “fused right ankle” that quickly took its toll on the rest of the 22-year-old’s body. Dragon Again was buried on the farm. It was reported he was buried between two oak trees “so that he can see all the broodmares and his paddock.”
 
Within a 14-race card of qualifiers on April 21 at Mohawk, Lady Shadow made her first on-track appearance since concluding her award-winning five-year-old campaign with a win at the Meadowlands last November. Lady Shadow cut all of the fractions over a track rated “good.” After splits of :28.1, :57.1 and 1:25.3, Lady Shadow uncorked a :27.4 closer to hit the line in 1:53.2.

Harness racing in Delaware switches to Harrington Raceway with a 10-race program starting at 5 p.m. on April 24. A revised wagering format includes superfectas in the even-numbered races with Pick-4 wagering beginning in races three and seven. In the event there are more than 10 races, Pick 4 will cover the last four races. The track’s marquee race of the season, the Bobby Quillen Memorial, featuring top older pacers, will go postward on Sept. 18.

The summer Suburban Downs at Hawthorne Race Course harness meet in Illinois—representing the only harness pari-mutuel track left in the state, opens on May 11. Track administration said that 600 stalls have been allocated on the Hawthorne backstretch. Racing for the summer meet will be conducted four nights a week, Thursday through Sunday evening with a 7:10 p.m. post time. The meet will conclude on, Sept. 24. Two days of qualifiers will be offered prior to the opening of the season. Qualifiers will take place on May 5 and May 8 at 10 a.m. During the racing season, qualifiers will take place prior to racing on Thursday evenings.

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 ~