Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

Mostly, again this past week, the public beat us in all but one of our highlighted and featured races and the one time we wound up on their side, we lost.

The Super Bowl series’ second leg of three races at the Meadowlands was won by two first choices and one second choice. Our first-division choice, Charleston Springs (39-1) finished eighth. Both of our choices in divisions two and three, Jewels In Hock (5-1) and Teach Me To Bucky (11-1) broke stride and were eliminated. Our second choice in division two, Annapolis (13-1) finished fourth.

The following night, Jan. 16, our choice in the first division of the Worldly Beauty series, Hex, was the public choice. However, he broke on the move and was eliminated, finishing seventh (last). In division two were were third with Just Fine ($2.60).

That same night at the Meadows, our featured-race shoice, Shucked (6-1) was fourth as the favorite won. A well-bet UF Rockin Dragon (5-2) at Yonkers in another of our featured races, simply raced awful and finished sixth.

The Saturday, Jan. 17 program at Charlottetown was postponed until Jan. 18 due to the severe cold in northeastern Canada. In Race 9 our first choice, Tyron My Gigalo (5-1) finished seventh but the horse we suggested with him for an exacta, Talk Back, won ($6.40, $6.40 ok, $3.80)

All of the highlighted and featured race choices we suggested that did not win will appear in next week’s H2W list.

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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 38 active horses. Miami cancelled the program that included list horses and there were a few scratches from the list.

Winners

Lexis Delight, $10.80, $6.20, $3.00, Cal Expo
Wygant Princess, $7.60, $4.20, $3.20, Freehold
Pictorian Caper, $5.80, $3.70, $2.80, Flamboro
Twentyoneguns, $4.80, $3.00, $2.80, Cal Expo
Valorscross, $4.00, $3.00, $2.70, Buffalo
Laura Mae, $3.40, $4.40 ok, $2.40, Western Fair
Artistic Fusion, $2.90, $2.10, $2.10 ok, Woodbine

Seconds

Ramblin Rick, $5.40, $3.80 (Exacta $34.00), Buffalo
Mousseline Hanover, $3.80, $2.80 (Exacta $8.60), Cal Expo
Blended Whiskey, $3.20, $2.60 (Exacta $15.60), Pompano
Casimir Jitterbug, $2.30, $2.10, Yonkers

Thirds

Looks Don’t Count, $6.80, Cal Expo
Know It All, $3.20, Yonkers
Blissful Bells, $2.40, Meadows
King Of The Crop, $2.10, Cal Expo

News & Notes

Nuncio, the 2014 sophomore trotter that excelled at three when handled by Jimmy Takter, is going to Sweden to race as his four-year-old season. Nuncio was a horse we touted here at two, when he shocked most bettors chasing Father Patrick in the Breeders Crown. Then trained by Jim Oscarsson, we gave TwinSpires harness bettors the dead-on exacta in the frosh-colt elim, which was won by “Patrick” and because of Nuncio finishing second paid in the $20 range (he raced out of the 8 hole at Pocono, where we covered the event live).

The betting public was over confident about Nuncio at three and although he won and was stakes placed in a few races, he did so while Patrick was eliminated or in trouble enough to give his stable mate the edge of a nose or so. Patrick, of course, won the Breeders Crown as the public’s second choice but as our major pick to win. That was 2014 and, of course, now both colts are four. Patrick is scheduled to return for a 2015 campaign and so is Nuncio, though conditions for the latter are not meeting the favor of owner and trainer overseas, Stefan Melander.

Melander is the horseman who campaigned Scarlet Knight at two, using Oscarsson for U.S. racing, to a Hambletonian win in 2001, defeating some tough U.S.-based colts including Pegasus Spur and Banker Hall (a trifecta we delivered in the old YouBet days – click here to see the race). Melander bought Nuncio as a yearling for only $7,000. Nuncio has earned more than $1.9 million through his sophomore campaign.

A recent rule provoked and instituted by Meadowlands-Vernon-Tioga owner Jeff Gural demands four-year-olds have a racing season before retiring to stud and that they race against older horses, not just four-year-olds. Melander didn’t want Nuncio racing against older horses. He said he wanted the horse to begin stallion duty at four. In Sweden, there are many good races for only four-year-olds, so Melander will race Nuncio there in 2015.

The native Swede said he plans to bring Nuncio back into the U.S. at five to be a stallion and that Nuncio may race at five in the states but after the 2016 winter-spring breeding season.

Are you feeling creative? Would you like to name some new races? Officials at Miami Valley Raceway announced 18 new late-closing events to be contested in February, March and early April. But none of them have been named.

The Miami administration “seeks to honor the great harness racing tradition in southwest Ohio by naming these series after prominent and accomplished deceased or retired people and horses that either got their start or competed successfully over a long period of time in the region.” Human nominees can be drivers, trainers, owners or racing officials. As well, successful stallions that stood locally will be considered.

Horsemen and fans are invited to submit race-name considerations. Any names submitted and not selected will be saved for future consideration. A committee of five long-time southwest Ohio horsemen will be appointed soon to review the nominations and make naming recommendations. Make nominations via email gregg.keidel@mvgrllc.com or by submitting suggested names via phone at 513-934-7792. The deadline is Jan. 25.

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 ~