Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

With few stakes on the docket, there were few chances to score large win prices. Though we missed the Open Trot feature winner (14-1) at the Meadowlands on No. 29, we were second with Market Share ($10.40, $6.20).

The Open Trot feature favorite was the unknown but volatile Sebastian K. We thought he might be short and went for Market Share, who was just beat out by Intimidate while Sebastian K was very short. He finished ninth, tanking badly after leading to three-quarters.

The Open Pace feature looked at an upset with Modern Legend but he was dull and Sweet Lou ($3.60, $2.60, $2.20) won, as even we predicted while recommending an outside contender.

The Nov. 30 Progress Pace Preview at Dover was rife for an upset, else it would be a “workout” for next week’s six-digit final. The latter developed and the two top choices, McWicked (oddly the second choice) and Jk Endofanera (top public choice) wound up finishing one-two. Our proposed upset—which we may still back in the main feature (see the Thursday blog)—All Bets Off, was fourth.

A note on the Breeders Crown glamour-boy pace final, won by McWicked after the scratch of undisputed soph champ Always B Miki. That super colt that rolled through the division in the second half of the season had surgery last week for severe pastern injury. We learned that on the night of the Breeders Crown final, “Miki” kicking a wall in his paddock troubled trainer Joe Holloway. The colt was scratched and the next day it was discovered he needed an operation. Co-owner Mitchel Skolnick said four screws were inserted to repair the fracture and he was optimistic about Miki returning to the races. Happily, Holloway’s concern led to the scratch, which may have been a life-saving move for the colt.

In our final entry of this year’s Breeders Crown Countdown blog, located at Blogspot, we will look at the strange evolution of the this year’s path to the series’ conclusion.
 
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H2W RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Also, exactas are included when a H2W horse finishing first or second completes the result with a race favorite or another H2W horse listed in the same race (an asterisk appears when both horses were listed to complete the exacta). If listed horses were active after press time, the date they won, placed or showed appears in parenthesis. This week, there were 28 active horses on the H2W list, not including those on the list for Dec. 1.

Note that Scarborough was cancelled Nov. 29, so the six horses on the list from that date will appear when next they are entered.

Winners

Artistic Director, $37.80, $13.40, $8.00, Dover
Scandaliscious, $26.60, $10.20, $5.00, Meadowlands
Ulysses Blue Chip, $8.80, $3.60, $2.60, (11/23) Cal Expo 
Jolts Virtue, $7.80, $5.00. $2.80, Dayton

Seconds

Thetoadandme, $10.40, $8.80, Cal Expo
Ahh Paloma, $4.40, $4.20, Cal Expo
Fox Valley Salsa, $4.20, $2.40, Cal Expo
Imwideawake, $4.20, $3.90, Saratoga
Afaceinthecrowd, $3.00, $2.40, Cal Expo
Pantsuit Hillary, $2.40, $2.10, Northfield
 
Thirds

Fly’n With Royalty, $3.40, Pompano
Gold Star Roger, n/s, Pompano

News & Notes

Yonkers’ Sunday matinees, shared with international harness bettors, continues at the New York track. The overseas numbers are impressive figures. The audience includes Switzerland, Belgium, Spanish Basque community, Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Holland, Estonia and Malta. You can play and profit through TwinSpires and partake in the perks. Cash a winning ticket on any wager on the Sunday morning card at Yonkers and earn 30X points on your wagers. First post is 11 a.m. ET. Complete details: http://www.twinspires.com/yonkers-sunday-early-bird-earn-30x-points

Paul Delean, a former colleague from my standardbred industry press days, wrote an editorial about the decimated racing industry in La Belle Province, Montreal. It has been nearly six years since the last race was staged at Hippodrome de Montreal in Montreal. With photos by Prince Edward Island photographer Ann MacNeil, Delean presents a sad-but-true image of what once was a thriving facility and key to the harness racing game in all of Canada. To read Delean's piece please click Montreal Gazette Story.

As bad as business has been for harness racing in Michigan, Sports Creek Raceway is holding live racing again, with post time for Friday and Saturday programs at 7 p.m. (EST) There are 11 programs available for December, including a New Year’s Eve card. Michigan was once a state prolific with pari-mutuel harness tracks, including Hazel Park, Sports Creek, Northville, Jackson, Muskegon and Saginaw. In the state’s history,

Here we go again with winter harness-program cancellation. The early storms have already shut down some tracks, including Buffalo Raceway, which was assaulted with a storm that left Buffalo under seven feet of snow and Batavia, the other upstate New York track pounded by snow. Monticello and Saratoga were also victims of the storm. To the north of those tracks, Maine also felt the brunt of the Thanksgiving Nor-easter. Scarborough canceled its Nov. 28 program when the storm caused a power outage affecting raceway operations. We will keep you posted through the season on how cancelled track programs affect our suggested contenders for features and H2W-listed horses on these blogs.

Extraordinary Extras

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

Ray Cotolo contributed to this blog

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