Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

We hope you took advantage of our suggested contenders at Yonkers on Sunday, Dec. 14 because with the 30X cashing on races 1—3 and the usual earning of TCS Elite Points, you should have racked up big numbers across-the-board because we had a mighty Sunday as Yonkers Raceway’s 2014 season concluded with the matinee.

There were 12 races and we addressed 11. Here is what happened, race for race:

Race 1 – B ackstreet Hanover was second ($10.20, $5.10), beaten by the favorite, which resulted in an exacta worth $50.00. Our second choice, Crazy About Pat, broke and was eliminated.

Race 2 – Keenan (7-1) finished eighth

Race 3 – Not Afraid won ($6.10, $3.80, $3.40).

Race 4 – Seagram (8-1) finished fourth.

Race 5 – Bourbon Bay won ($15.60, $5.00, $4.70) and the favorite was second for an exacta returning $35.80.

Race 6 – Hunkofburninlove finished second ($5.30, $3.30).

Race 7 – Perfect Picture finished third ($2.50).

Race 9 – Little Michael B finished second ($5.20, 3.10).

Race 10 – American Flight finished second ($14.40, $9.70).

Race 11 – Our Cullenscrown N won ($18.20, $7.00, $5.20) for the second highest price of the day to win.

Race 12 – Stonebridge Tonic (5-1) finished fifth.

The Northlands Filly Pace on Dec. 13 at Northlands Park went to the second choice while our filly, Charismatic Art was third ($3.80).

There are two weeks before our Monday, Dec. 29 review lists our Players’ Harness Racing Horse of the Year and 2014’s best paying winners that came from these TwinSpires harness blogs.

Meanwhile, we are on top of the action as the year ends, offering extensive coverage of harness racing—great races from all over North America where harness battles continue to produce profits and great pay offs exclusively at TwinSpires. We were hot in the deep freeze with our overnight choices—see below—and will be shooting for the prices week after week.

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 39 active horses on the H2W list. Many horses did not race when Saratoga cancelled its Dec. 11, Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 cards and Scarborough cancelled its Dec. 13 card.

Winners

I’m Real Good, $70.00, $25.00, $13.80, Cal Expo
Eastwood Aurora N, $20.00, $57.20, $24.00, Rosecroft
Pipecreek Star, $8.00, $4.20, $2.10, Dayton
Major Starlight, $5.40, $3.80, $3.00, Sports Creek
Non Pareil, $4.40, $3.20, $3.00, Northfield
Bold Decision, $2.60, $2.20, $2.10, Sports Creek
Calm As Can Bee, $2.40, $2.40 ok, $2.10, Sports Creek
Galactic Star, $2.20, $2.20 ok, $2.10 (Dead Heat), Maywood

Seconds

Stormy Ghost, $6.60, $3.40 (Exacta $13.80), Northfield
Skates N Plates, $5.00, $2.60, Meadows
Lovedancinwithyou, $3.20, $2.40, Maywood
Sf Donttellonme, $2.40, $2.20, Sports Creek
 
Thirds

I’m Feeling Good, $6.80, Meadows
Mistery Woman, $4.40, Meadowlands
Abs Jesse Hall, $3.80, Sports Creek
Only The Lonely, $2.60, Dover
Blue Time Ice Lady, $2.40, Northfield
Flipper J, $2.40, Yonkers
 
News & Notes

Standardbred trainer Ron Burke has broken thoroughbred trainer Todd Pletcher’s record for earnings in a single season. Pletcher set the record in 2007, recording $28,116,097. When Appomattox crossed the wire first in the Free For All Handicap Trot, Burke’s season earnings moved to $28,118,465, surpassing Pletcher’s mark. Burke is obviously not done adding to his earnings. At press time he was drawing away from Pletcher and has more than two weeks left to increase the disparity.

Another drivers’ streak report comes from Northfield on Dec. 11. Aaron Merriman won eight races that evening and turned over a very good flat-bet profit. Mostly, it was thanks to two 5-1 winners that padded his profit. For a $26 investment (playing every horse Merriman drove on the program) the return was $52.60, a $26.60 profit. His lowest winner paid $2.40 and his highest was one of the two 5-1 shots, paying $12.60.

It was even a bigger story at Dayton on Dec. 10 when Kyle Ater got hot on only four winners. Returning to the sulky while still recovering from a flu attack, Ater drove in 10 races. The investment of $20 returned $129.60, a profit of $109.60. His winning quartet paid, in order, $48.60, $49.00, $21.60 and $10.40. As fabulous a flat-bet profit as that evening produced, it is an anomaly and proves that playing high-profile drivers rarely winds up a profitable endeavor.

Winbak Farm of Ontario announced the farm is adding millionaire Archangel to its stallion lineup for 2015. Winbak said his offspring would be potentially eligible to the lucrative Ontario Sires Stakes program, that competed for $15.9 million in 2014. Archangel was tough. At two, Archangel won two New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) divisions and New York State Fair stake. He finished second in the Breeders Crown elimination, John Simpson Memorial, three NYSS divisions and the final. At three, Archangel won the Empire Breeders Classic elim and final, a heat of the Kentucky Futurity, NY State Fair, five NYSS divisions and the Yonkers Trot Final.

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 ~