Harness Preview: Picks and Horses to Watch Dec. 1-5

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

Thursday, December 1

MOHAWK MILES

Each Thursday we are highlighting races featuring probable long shots at the Canadian harness meet. All horses that do not win at first crack appear the following week in the H2W as bet-backs or in selected features, adding new possibilities to this section.

R4 — #3 Day At The Gym (5-2): Decent qualifier, good prep to be better here.
R7 — #8 Thankyaverymuch (5-1): Beaten favorite, judges replacement from misbehavior.
R8 — #2 Toughsonofabeach (4-1): Close, beaten in a late charging field at 2-1.
R9 — #3 Whatineedisaman (8-1): Favorite at Flamboro, second all the way around.

DELAWARE DOCKET

Dover Downs

Race 4, a $20k elimination for a final of DSBF state-bred soph-pacers, is the feature as sire stats for the year go into their last calculations for the season. This is a tougher race than at first glance, giving us a chance for value on #2 Johnny Badlands (4-1). Ten times he hit the board against these types and he owns the speed of his sire.

Friday, December 2

FEATURES

Yonkers

Race 9
A pair of contenders gets our attention and inspires an exacta. From the H2W list comes #8 Apex Seelster (2-1). From post 8 he’ll have the usual Yonkers baggage to carry but he won’t be 9-2 as last week, when he was stuffed inside, moved and was passed by similarly tagged foes.
His slight drop in price could help lighten the load and surely make a fine exacta even if he finishes second.
#3 Daamericansky (4-1) ships from Pocono. At 6-1 he launched early only to hang after working to the half on the outside and hopelessly tire. Freehold’s productive Andrew Adamczyk trains and has been doing well with stock at Pocono. Daamericansky’s speed from post 3 here could contribute to success. Criss-crossed for an exacta, the combo is valuable.

Saturday, December 3

FEATURES

Northfield Park

Races 2, 3, 4, 5
Here are four races to work with together and separately. Together, they are part of the early Pick 4. Individually they are win bets. On your own, they could be a giant parlay as well as any of the others. Here are our win contenders in each.

Race 2 — #1 Molly Kool (4-1): Strong second at 5-1, gets the rail here.
Race 3 — #2 Mae Be Magic (6-1): Led at 9-1 at Dayton, caught; extra turn helps speed factor.
Race 4 — #3 Plzdontlietome N (5-2): Beaten favorite from overland route.
Race 5 — #2 Rockin Deo (20-1): Ships from Hoosier after strong mile at 15-1.

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

Cal-Expo
12/2/22, A Major Omen R4
12/4/22, +Bluebird Affection R4

Cumberland
12/2/22, Joes Beauty R2; Dee's Artiste R5; Air Force Grad R9
12/4/22, Airspinder R8; Go Sandy Go R8

Dayton
12/1/22, Scylly Rock R3; +Big Bad Mike R4; Seaside Hill R6

Dover Downs
12/1/22, Star Messenger R5; Aberdeen Hanover R5; Solid Gold N R7

Freehold
12/2/22, J A T O R10; +My Guilty Pleasure R11

Hoosier Park
12/1/22, Knives Out R1; Shock Wave R7
12/2/22, +Movie Star R5

Meadowlands
12/1/22, Svengali R6; Scrappin Gold R7
12/2/22, +Top Down R3
12/3/22, +Always A Panther R4

The Meadows
12/2/22, Skyway Ballistic R8; +Pancho Power R9

Monticello
12/1/22, +Jessicas Beach Boy R5; Atta Boy Dan R5; Saratoga Blue Chip R6

Northfield Park
12/3/22, +One Eyed Wanda R6; Downhill Skiing R9

Northville Downs
12/2/22, +Starlit Thiswanday R4; +Little Jedi R7

Philly
12/1/22, Cal R6; Jagged Little Pill R10
12/2/22, Southwind Mina R1

Rosecroft
12/1/22, Hi Sir R10; +Transparency R11; Dance On The Beach R14

Saratoga
12/3/22, Aerosmith Hanover R5
12/4/22, Navarone Hanover R5

Yonkers
12/1/22, +Ciel Bleu R6; +Bettorshightlight N R8