Harness Weekly Update: Six Double-Digit Wins Top Plays

The TwinSpires Harness Blog Weekly Update covers our results from the older pacing series at Yonkers, our selected features, and the horses-to-watch list (H2W) successes and failures.

Monday, April 19

The 2021 Borgata and Matchmaker series at Yonkers will forever haunt us, as the mighty Leonidas A and Alexa Skye did not “show up” for the main prizes. Of course they raced, but in no way did they resemble the two series dominators.

We picked up the place in the Borgata final with Rockapelo ($10.80, $6.50). And in the consolation we were fourth with San Domingo A (2-1).

Only a third in the Matchmaker final (“Alexa” was off the board—you read correctly) was our Snobbytown ($3.90). In the consolation we struck third again, this time with Parisian Blue Chip ($2.60).

Thursday, April 22

The Windfall Final at Hoosier went to our choice, Made Of Platinum ($7, $4, $2.80), with For Sharks Sake ($4) from our top three finishing third.

Friday, April 23

Lady Arthur ($7.60, $4.20, $3.40), one of our best bets of the season, won the Scarlet & Gray soph-filly pace split at Miami. We finished second in the soph-filly trot with Celebrate With Me ($3, $2.40), with Ozma (11-1) getting fifth.

Saturday, April 24

A great reason we always indicate that when looking at our choices for “Pick” races, you should consider the legs for individual bets was proven to be useful at Pocono when one of our Pick 3 choices won. In leg three we scored with Rockin Inthe Hills ($21.20, $6.60, $3). We lost the other two legs, with Century Fury ($2.10) finishing third in leg one, while the others on the ticket—Ideal Wheel (10-1), Windsong Jack (6-1), Captain Nash (7-1) and American Rebel (9-1) did not hit the board.

In the Dexter Cup elim at Freehold, we caught Incommunicado ($5.20, $3.80, $3), while our longshot prospect, Chapolier (40-1) finished sixth, which allows him to take part in the $100k-plus final next week.

H2W LIST RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Exactas listed include a H2W horse finishing second to a race-favorite or if the first two finishers are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses are listed—a cold exacta). The note “OK” determines that prices are correct (even when a show price exceeds a place price or all prices are the same).

Please note that some results reflect horses racing after the blog posts (they appear the following week).

This week, there were 42 active horses, for a 17% win hit rate and a 40% ATB (across-the-board) hit. Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

South Beach Star, $21.20, $7.60, $4.40, Meadowlands
Rock To Glory, $18.60, $7.40, $5.80, Meadowlands
Catello Too, $14.60, $3.60, $3.10, Vernon
Culinary Artist, $12.80, $5.70, $4.10, Vernon
Ball Diamond, $11.20, $6.20, $3.40, Northfield
Mycrownmykingdom, $6.80, $4, $3, Meadowlands
Lovely Munro, $2.80, $2.10, $2.10 OK, Northfield

Seconds

The Great I Am, $10.20, $6.20 (Exacta $22.80), Northville
Bring The Thunder, $6.20, $3 (Exacta $19.80), Meadows
Northern Sultan, $4.60, $2.60, Plainridge
Swiss Bank Hanover, $4, $2.60, Monticello
Atlantic Star, $3, $2.40, Northfield
Thebeachiscalling, $2.80, $2.20 (Exacta $9.60), Meadowlands

Thirds

Buck Dancer, $7.60, Meadowlands
Mr Hansani N, $2.80, Philly
Buzinga N, $2.50, Yonkers
Impressive Chief, $2.20, Northville

NEWS & NOTES

As the lockdown in Ontario continues, many horsemen have headed south of the border. Louis-Phillippe Roy will be driving at Hoosier for trainer Rob Fellows. Trevor Henry also turns up in Indiana, bringing some of his horses, trained by his wife Shannon, who stays in Ontario with freshmen. Watch for Ontario regulars in the U.S. in the east, too, as they feel it makes sense to work somewhere “with the uncertainty of how racing is going to play out in Ontario.”

From the beginning of this season, we warned readers about the potential of Julie Miller’s trotter, Get Legs. He blasted into his four-year-old season dominating each field he met. Last week, the four-year-old son of Muscle Hill did it again, winning the $69k final of the John Brennan Trotting Series at Yonkers. The colt fooled no one, going off the prohibitive favorite with Andy Miller going along for the spin. Get Legs has 11 wins from 13 starts.

Management at Pocono announced two changes to the May Pennsylvania Sire (PASS) events. Three-year-old pacing colts were originally scheduled for Pocono on May 15; that event will now be held on May 16. This clears the Meadows’ first leg for soph trotting colts on May 15, allowing handlers of horses not to hustle to the Meadowlands for the Arthur Cutler Trot and a leg of the Graduate Pace. The second leg of PASS for soph trotting colts was originally at Pocono for May 30, but will be held on May 31 so as not to conflict with same-day racing of the third leg during a card at Philly.

After Scarborough Downs closed, the harness racing community was saved by First Track Investments (FTI). The company scheduled 56 days of racing at the Cumberland Fairgrounds (now called First Tracks Cumberland) and the 2021 harness racing season kicks off May 8 with a 4:15 p.m. (ET) post time. Maine harness continues Tuesdays and Saturdays through July 31. FTI collaborates with Bangor and Plainridge in the South to ensure that horsemen had seamless so racing does not overlap. Racing resumes in November for three to four days per week, through Dec. 31.

Extraordinary Extras

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