Hambletonian Harangue; Stakes Frothing With Favorites At Meadowlands; Place Prices For Profits, Wins Tank

HAMBLETONIAN TRAIL The Hambletonian elims and final results. It was an opportunistic win by a colt we kept cool about all season—Forbidden Trade. The Canadian son of the magnificent sire Kadabra, won the final at 15-1. It was the first colt by Kadabra to win a Hambletonian. Greenshoe was in the photo for second and Gimpanzee ($4.00) got third. The elims saw an easy win by Greenshoe ($2.60, $2.10, $2.10), the favorite, with our upset possibility, Don’t Let’em ($2.80, $2.60) second. The exacta paid $6.80. Gimpanzee struggled to finish fourth behind 9-1 Green Manalishi S, and made the final. For a complete essay on the 2019 Hambletonian, check out the last Hambletonian Trail blog. The “Oaks” was won, as we warned, by second-choice When Dovescry. She just nipped Millies Possesion, the race favorite. Our choice, Evident Beauty (3-1), busted in the stretch after a tough outside trip, galloping home ninth-placed-10^th for interfering with Southwind Casha. Saturday, Aug. 3 In the James Doherty Final for the frosh-filly trotters, our suggested contender, Word Of Honor (37-1), made a single move midway but flattened, letting the entire field pass to finish ninth of 10. The huge favorite was the winner, setting a major precedent for payoffs on the stakes program. The frosh colt trotters in the Peter Haughton Final were also eaten alive by the favorite, leaving us to finish fourth with Capricornus (9-2). Soph-filly pacers in the Shady Daisy gave way to the public’s third choice, while our outrageous outsider, Odds On St Lucie (41-1) raced well enough to pick up sixth behind the top three choices and a 15-1 shocker that completed the exacta. Lather Up, who broke a 1 1/8^th-mile speed record winning the Sam McKee Memorial (world-record time), exemplified speed’s favoring element best. We had the second choice, McWicked ($2.40), who took third. The public agreed with us about Six Pack ($2.40) in the John Cashman Memorial trot. Here, though, Six Pack was passed at the wire by an 8-1 shot and the second favorite. Six Pack finished third to the highest win price of the day’s stakes. The Dr John Steele Memorial went to another favorite. We finished fourth with Custom Cantab (7-1). Shartin N ($2.60, $2.10, $2.10) did it again, winning in front of her usual chaser, Caviart Ally ($2.40, $2.20), in the Lady Liberty. The skimpy exacta was worth $4.40. Drafting behind Bettors Wish ($2.10, $2.10 ok), Captain Crunch, the co-favorite, won by a nose in the Cane Pace. The exacta was worth $5.00 The Shady Daisy was won by the public’s second choice. Odds On St Lucie (41-1), our far-outside contender, finished sixth. 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 52 active horses (a 4-percent win hit rate and a 37-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 Rays The Limit, $3.10, $2.60, $2.90, Vernon Becky Badger Baby, $2.60, $2.20, $2.10, Running Aces Seconds Pancetta, $10.00, $5.20, Running Aces Evita, $7.20, $2.40, Scioto Better Watch Out, $5.80, $5.40 (Exacta $18,20), Red Mile Between Me And You, $5.60, $3.00, Hawthorne Aberdeen Seelster, $4.50, $4.70 ok, Saratoga Tymal Peacemaker, $4.50, $2.90, Yonkers Sheenas Boy, $3.80, $2.80, Meadowlands Big Top Lindy, $2.80, $2.10, Philly Thirds Financial Prospect, $7.80, Hawthorne Skim The Top, $7.00, Running Aces Harvards Z Tam, $6.40, Scioto Bullseye, $4.40, Scarborough Lean Hanover, $3.00, Yonkers No Drama Please, $2.80, Meadowlands Personal Paradise, $2.80, Meadowlands Wind Blast, $2.50, Yonkers Buckaroo, $2.10, Charlottetown News & Notes Wagering on the Hambletonian Day program at The Meadowlands was up 14.6 percent from the 2018 program. Both programs offered 16 races (not all stakes). This year’s total wagering came in at $6,501,778. That number was approximately $800,000 more than the year before. The $6.5-million in action was by far an industry 2019 best. WoMo produced $4.4 million in wagers on March 30 when the track had a huge Super High-5 carryover on a mandatory payout night. The only other $4 million-plus handle this year was at the Meadowlands on Meadowlands Pace Night ($4,044,303). Bettors who stayed with Forbidden Trade throughout the Hambletonian Future Wager cashed hearty tickets. With the exception of the first pool ($22.00), Forbidden Trade paid more in legs two ($103.60), three ($40.20) and four ($57.80) than he did in the actual race ($33.80). Extraordinary Extras Indulge in our monthly columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet at Harness Racing Update