‘Crown’-Alumni Sophomores Pay Off At Hoosier; 48 Percent Hit The Board On ‘Watch’ List

Before we review the results of our features’ contenders, make note that we have already and will continue to add to our horses-to-watch list (H2W) all horses that raced in the 2018 Breeders Crown finals no matter where they finished in the events on Oct. 27 Pocono Downs. The percentages of successful play-back winners for horses that participated in the championship events are so fabulous each year that we automatically use them as top contenders their next two times out. In the H2W results below there are four winners from the finals and in our features there are two (one was DQ’d). 

Now, here are the results and some brief notes on our successes and failures from the weekend past.

Friday, Nov. 2

The four main events for sophomores at Hoosier turned out all right, though we had a winning ticket that we could not cash. Lather Up was terrific in the soph-colt pace. He broke badly making a brush at three-quarters, raced back on gait and finished first (as the favorite). Hoosier judges disqualified him and placed him eighth. Our exotic partners in that race split. Dorsoduro Hanover was placed second after finishing third and, oddly enough, the horse in this race that appeared in the H2W was placed third after finishing fourth. Fox Valley Gemini (86-1) finished seventh-placed sixth. 
 
We won the soph-colt trot (a Breeders Crown playback) with Met’s Hall ($4.00, $2.40, $2.40 ok).

We were second in the soph-filly trot with Seviyorum ($4.40, $3.80), completing the $18.80 exacta with the favorite.

Our only complete failure was Voom Or Bang (11-1), racing a very bad ninth to Breeders Crown returnee Youaremycandygirl.


Saturday, Nov. 3

Our choices at the Kindergarten Classics at the Meadowlands looked tired and raced poorly and some of the events were diluted with favorites breaking and other such chaos.

Among the trotters we were fifth with Divine Spirit (10-1) in a race where the favorite jumped and another public choice got an advantage due to it. In the other trot a 17-1 shot defeated our choice, Can’t Touch It (2-1).

The duo of pacer stakes produced a dead-heat result (one was the public’s first choice, the other at 6-1) for fillies over our contender, the public’s second choice, Treacherous Reign (2-1). In the other, Flameproof Hanover (99-1) finished fifth to a 7-1 winner.


TwinSpires Harness Blog:
Severe Handicapping For Harness Bettors


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 56 active horses (a 14-percent win hit rate and a 48-percent ATB [in the money] 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 week) It is up to you to follow horses that have not performed before this weekly review

Winners

Sachertorte, $12.80, $2.80, $2.20, Bangor
Southern Palms, $10.20, $5.30, $3.70, Batavia
Caviart Cherie, $9.60, $4.00, $2.70, Yonkers
Mademoiselle Paris, $7.20, $2.40, $2.40 ok, Bangor
Lyons Johnny, $6.80, $3.40, $2.20, Pompano
I’m Trigger Happy, $6.40, $3.40, $2.80, Meadowlands
Babes Dig Me, $5.70, $3.00, $2.10, Yonkers
Fashionwoodchopper, $4.80, $2.80, $2.40, Philly

Seconds

Piece Of The Rock, $8.00, $4.80, Freehold
Fork, $7.10, $4.60, Flamboro
Blue Bell Beauty, $4.80, $3.00 (Exacta $8.40), Monticello
*American Girl, $3.80, $3.60 (Triple $51.00), Dayton
Modesty, $2.80, $2.40, Meadowlands
Thumper, $2.80, $2.60 (Exacta $7.90), Flamboro
JK Pridenjoy, $2.10, $2.10 ok, Freehold

Thirds

Rockinbeach, $12.80, Hoosier
Ideal Rocky, $9.20, Pocono
TM Top Gun, $8.00, Dayton
Fantasy Rocket, $7.20, Meadows
*It’s A Miracle, $6.40 (Triple $51.00), Dayton
Candy Lane, $5.80, Plainridge
Ideal Deal, $4.60, Freehold
Brooklyn Flight, $3.40, Meadows
Winning Lyric, $2.50, Mohawk
Nike Franco N, $2.20, Philly
Sharknado, $2.20, Pompano
Major Marcus, $2.10, Pocono

News & Notes

Now that118 years of horse racing at Northlands Park is left to memory, Century Downs has opened its doors to patrons, its stables to Northlands alumni and other Canadian horsemen, and its races to simulcasts across North America. Century began operation, the first of 18 programs in the Calgary-area racetrack's winter meet, which extends to Jan. 20, 2019.

Meanwhile, the for-sale sign is up at Kawartha Downs. Estimates are that the property is worth near $20 million. Kawartha entered court-ordered receivership in May 2017 after the track’s former owner was forced to relinquish control of the raceway because he was unable to get out from underneath roughly $97 million in debt that his businesses owed, collectively. Several of his companies had fallen into receivership in 2015 but at the time, Kawartha was not one of them. The raceway went into receivership when a loan from a private lender was not paid back in time.

McWicked’s trainer, Casie Coleman, said there have been many offers to stand the $3.8-million earner at stud but that is not the plan at the moment. It was announced that McWicked, a productive son of McArdle, will be back racing in 2019. Fresh off of his open-lengths win in the $430,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace, McWicked is pointed to a November stakes engagement.

Trainer Jimmy Takter announced that Ariana G, his $2.6-million-plus trotting mare is retired from racing. The winner of 26 of 40 starts will made harness racing history as one of the top female trotters of all time. Ariana G, a four-year-old daughter of Muscle Hill, dominated her division at two and three. She won nine of her 11 juvenile starts and 12 of her 15 sophomore starts. She won five of her 14 starts this year at four and banked over $618,000. She defeated males this year in the $405,850 Hambletonian Maturity and the $250,000 Graduate and also won the $150,000 Dayton Trotting Derby. Ariana G’s last race was in the Breeders Crown.


Extraordinary Extras

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

And check my monthly column, Alternative Actions, at Harness Racing Update