Harness Preview: Picks and Horses to Watch April 21-25

Selected features and the never-ending TwinSpires’ horses-to-watch list (H2W) share keys to success in exotics, win, place and show payoffs.

The Borgata series results. Here’s how we did with April 18’s divisions.
See below for analysis of Matchmaker and Borgata finals.
R4 – I'm Sir Blake A ($3.20)
R6 – Poseidon Seelster ($2.10); Splash Brother (16-1), fourth
R8 – Tatoo Artist ($3.40, $2.60, $2.10); Pat Stanley N (20-1), seventh

Thursday, April 21

MOHAWK MILES

Each Thursday we highlight some probable long shots from Mohawk Park. If they do not win at first crack we add them to the H2W the following week as bet-backs or in selected features, adding new possibilities to this section.
R5 – Raptors Won: Sharp qualifier win puts him in the mix.
R7 – Tie One On: Prepped well to be a main challenger

FEATURES

Philly, Race 4

Knight Angel has not won in nine starts this season, but winning races is not a common feat for this field anyway. Add to the mix leaving from post 8 and the negatives increase. Still, the Morning Line (ML) is 9-2, most likely due to trainer Jen Bongiorno and a zero-for-four-start ML favorite. Best back the ML’s third choice behind the second, Circle Of Life AS.

Saturday, April 23

FEATURES

Meadowlands, Race 6

The $31k Open Handicap lines up seven top trotters that have earned five digits already this season. Ron Burke sends two out, the top earner, Yanks Dugout, and the cheapest earner, Hillexotic. Street Gossip and Lovedbythemasses are the other top earners.

This leaves the debut-in-‘22 trotter Back Of The Neck from Ake Svanstedt. How the colt begins at four is immeasurable but a leap of faith here could pay off. Svanstedt will be in the bike. Considering the aforementioned foes, perhaps fresh Ake can do the trick.

 

Monday, April 25

MATCHMAKER FINAL

Yonkers, Race 7

The eight highest points accrued in the Matchmaker divisions, in point order, are:
Drama Act, Racine Bell, Karma Seelster, Miss You N, Easy To Please, Best Head West, Mystical Carrie, and Keep Rockin A. The $381k final won’t finish falling in line, though, not with a purse almost 10 times more than each division.

We are looking for the overlay contender that won’t be the public’s first or second pick. For us, that is Karma Seelster. She was backed strongly in her divisions but paced into some jams that rewarded her with lower shares of the purses—but she did accumulate the third-highest point count from lucrative finishes and will be at her best against Drama Act and Racine Bell, the speed in this field.

BORGATA FINAL

Yonkers, Race 8

Tattoo Artist, which raced in five legs of the series, may be the favorite in the $549k Borgata Pacing Series Final, but we feel this series has been too competitive to rule out an overlay, especially Leonidas A. We liked him last year but he flattened out late in the series and was not much good after it, either. It has been different this season. He has actually improved, as was obvious when he storm-paced in the final leg, racing at his best.  

Horses to Watch

H2W Legend

Review our choices and confirm the wagers available at the prescribed track. H2W offers possible contenders researched from reviewing races. Horses’ names are listed beneath the name of the track with the date of their race and the race number (R6) follows. If a + is in front of a horse’s name, it appears on the list for the second time (horses are listed twice only if, at first, they failed to win. An “ae” signals also-eligible. Types of wagers to make are based on your judgment.

H2W LIST

Freehold
4/22/22, Pedigree Blue Chip R2; Aintnosunshine R2;

Harrington
4/25/22, +Henrico R10

Hoosier
4/21/22, +HP Xanadu R4
4/22/22, Kerrin Joseph A R2; Tabooma R6

Meadowlands
4/22/22, Primo Vomo R4; +Camden Hills R6; +Sermon R10

Meadows
4/21/22, Gingerzzz R1; It Is Well R3; +Mission Voyage R6; RD Skippy R9

Miami
4/21/22, Howyadoinbub R3; Neyreit R6; Captain Dolmio N R14

Mohawk
4/21/22, Silver Diamond R1; Laugh Now R4

Monticello
4/21/22, Admiral R3; Bet On Yourself R6; Tidal Shark R8

Northville
4/22/22, +Payara R1; +Bearly Behavin R6; Busy Doing Nothing R8
4/23/22, +Bold Decision R13

Philly
4/21/22, Ceffyl Dwr R5
4/22/22, ae James Riverside R1

Plainridge
4/21/22, +Billy B R1; One Swan For All R2; Hot Wheelz R9

Pocono
4/23/22, Malone R10

Saratoga
4/23/22, +Transatlantic R5; +B Cool Fool R11; +Fireball R13

Vernon
4/23/22, +Ive Got Hootspa R2; Twin B Speedo R7; Major Majormajor R9

Yonkers
4/21/22, +Call Me Thefireman R2 (early card); +Rocknroll Annie R2; +In Spades R5
4/22/22, +Sweet N Fast N R2