Cold $142 Pompano Exacta; Meadowlands Power Plays Pays

 
Thursday, Jan. 23

Afternoon racing at Freehold showed a win but little profit as the crowd went along with us for Sheer Talent ($2.80, $2.40, $2.10).

Fat Boy (12-1), our second choice on the program, finished fifth to a 5-1 shot.

”Wallyworld” action at Pompano presented a quartet of races with Mr. Hennessey competing; he won two, both huge favorites.

One of the races we posted became a sans-Wally event. Still, we were second to the favorite with Money Earned ($9.80, $5.00), igniting a $37.00 exacta.

Against Wally we finished third with Hurrikane Kingkong ($2.40) and third again, with Silver Wings ($4.40). Wally won while we were fifth with Royal Rex ($22-1), and fourth with No Hablo Ingles (7-1).


Friday, Jan. 24

It is never embarrassing to lose a PoP when the result complements the betting public and the returns are small. So it was at Miami Valley while trying to strike a loud note in a trifecta. Our candidates, Up Front Flor Ida (6-1), Elysium Seelster (42-1) and Knockout Queen (37-1) never hit the board.

It was somewhat different enough at the Meadowlands, where our PoP returned well enough (had they finished in any other position the strike would have been significant) in two exotics, though it missed the superfecta by one.

From our four contenders came the winner, Odds On St Lucie ($8.00, $4.40, $2.40) and the $29.40 exacta partner, Sandy Win ($5.40, $2.60) and the $53.40 trifecta co-star, Wisdom Tree ($2.10). The 10-cent super paid $6.49 without our fourth contender, Quite A Sight (79-1).


Saturday, Jan. 25

No matter how large the fields at the Meadowlands become, the public is usually correct about one of its three choices. This, of course, is a universal result over the course of thousands of races. The arithmetic of pari-mutuels racing, in general, cares not about field sizes. Our hunt for prices in two races on the program were outside of the box, per se.

We finished fourth with Santafe’s Coach (7-1) to the crowd’s second choice and we came in eighth backing Sunshine West (11-1) against the dead-on favorite.


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 43 active horses (a xx-percent win hit rate and a xx-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 weeks) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review.


Winners

*Ugottobeinittowinit, $30.20, $11.80, $3.80, Pompano
Titanium N, $10.80, $4.40, $3.20, Yonkers
Topsill Beach, $9.70, $4.90, $3.70, Flamboro
Onspeed N, $8.40, $4.80, $3.40, Miami
Good Day Mate, $6.00, $2.60, $2.10, Freehold
Sullivan, $5.40, $3.00, $2.80, Meadows
Iam Erik N, $4.40, $3.40, $2.60, Miami


Seconds

Asiago Romano, $9.00, $8.20, Pompano
Velocity Lana, $8.00, $9.80 ok, Miami
Jumpin Jake Flash, $7.20, $4.40 (Exacta $17.40), Meadows
*Sports Analyst, $4.20, $2.80 (Exacta $142.20)
Buddy Hally, $3.80, $2,80, Northfield
Venier Hanover, $3.60, $3.20 (Exacta $19.40), Northfield
Nassau County, $2.60, $2.40, Monticello


Thirds

Onimpuse, $6.20, Flamboro
Bettor Lady, $2.80, Cal-Expo
Campbellini, $2.80, Meadowlands
Mufasa AS, $2.80, $2.40, Meadowlands
Body Of Work, $2.60, Northfield


News & Notes

North American harness racing trainers will add another Australasian conditioning team to their community. Shane and Lauren Tritton announced they are shutting down their training operation Down Under to relocate in the U.S. The successful racing team said many of their horse owners chose to follow their stable to the U.S. The award-winning Team Tritton won scores of races over the years and feel it is time to operate in a “more viable marketplace.”

Woodbine Entertainment announced the 2020 schedule at Woodbine Mohawk Park (WoMo). More than $20 million in stakes races will be contested, including $12 million-plus in Woodbine-administrated events. A pair of $1 million events – the Pepsi North America Cup and the Mohawk Million – headlines the 2020 stakes season. The 37^th “Cup” for soph pacers is scheduled for Saturday, June 20. The inaugural Mohawk Million for two-year-old trotters is slated for Sept. 26.

Winter, so far, has been kind to harness-racing-related areas in North America. Still, Northfield Park, arguably the toughest harness track in America ever forced to a program cancellation, did just that last week (Jan. 18) due to the weather. Over the years, this blog has complemented the Ohio track for its persistence to stay open through many tough winter storms, so to see it close for a night due to weather took a few minutes to accept. It’s a bettor-loyal track and we are sure it will weather tougher storms to come in 2020.

Queenace Blue Chip (QBC), the TwinSpires Harness Bettors’ Horse of the Year for 2019, is now racing at Cal-Expo. The $123.00-paying pacer (our highest paying choice from last year’s preview blogs) is under the tutelage of one of California’s top trainers, Kathleen Plested. Last week, QBC finished fourth. 

Extraordinary Extras

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