Harness Preview: Picks and Horses to Watch Nov. 17-21

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, November 17

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.
R1 — #6 Bumpy Jack (7-2): Broke once free to move; effort forgiven.
R5 — #8 Chesapeake Sunrise (8-1): Shadow Play colt gets one more highlighted spot.
R7 — #5 Commemorative (8-1): Caught late, took third, bet-back material.
R9 — #5 Assassins Creed (7-2): Slight dip offers better chances, higher odds.
R10 — #4 Play N Bad (10-1): Broke at Flamboro, faces better at a price.

Friday, November 18

STAR-STUDDED

Hoosier Park

A local event for sophomore, The Star Destroyer ($57k+) presents fields for all four divisions.

Race 9 (3yo colt trot)
Though he won’t be the crowd choice, #4 Caviar Gold (8-1) should wind up second or third with fans and at a price good enough to take in a field of 10. His sire, Triumphant Caviar, has not been respected as well as deserved.

Race 11 (3yo filly pace)
#5 Patsville (3-1) just missed at 2-1 against a strong field and may be better than the crowd believes. She held second last out, remaining best of the rest.

Race 12 (3yo filly trot)
We’ll bet back #1 Gabbys C Note (9-5), who raced super to finish third at 50-1 in the Crossroads and with a quicker start could pop the toteboard here.

Race 14 (3yo colt pace)
Here’s a shot at a good price. #8 Barry's Berries (10-1) has been a good earner for Ron Burke and with the 8-hole start the crowd most likely won’t measure the pacer correctly. Neither may the line-maker. Also, #2 Sure Thing Herman (5-1) qualified well and could be sending up a flare for some great miles at four.

Saturday, November 19

THREE FOR FOUR

Meadowlands

Elims for the Fall Final Four amount to three, as the Goldsmith Maid goes straight to final. Each prep on the program is worth $20k.

Race 5 - Valley Victory (2yo colt trot)
This single elim features 10. #1 Kimmeridgian was the third choice last out against “Crown” winner #8 Celebrity Bambino, who should be the favorite here for Ake Svanstedt. Kimmeridgian is a classy Walner colt that has a good chance for an upset here.

Race 6 - Governors Cup elim one (2yo colt pace)
We’ll take Burke’s #5 Muskateer Hanover, an outside contender coming from a qualifier meant only to make the speed grade. This lightly-raced Sweet Lou colt may impress Burke to put him in to earn a spot for a big purse event, so we’ll take the leap of faith for price and purpose.

Race 7 - Governors Cup elim two (2yo colt pace)
Another Sweet Lou guy, #8 Confederate, is our outsider choice from the outside coming off of a cool qualifier at Hoosier.

Race 9 - Three Diamonds (2yo filly pace)
Burke’s money-vacuum, #10 Strong Poison, may just be too good for these even from the 10 hole, and we can only hope the public lays off her enough to make a win bet playable. It’s your call.

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
11/18/22, Casa Miasa R2; Buck Rogers R4; Chase The Gold R9; Ideal One A R11

Dayton
11/17/22, Big Bad Mike R12

Dover Downs
11/17/22, Bettor Memories R10; Harambe Deo R14

Freehold
11/18/22, Midnight Zen R3; Brian's Magic Girl R4

Hoosier Park
11/17/22, Frontier Metis R6
11/18/22, +Fools Desire R6

Meadowlands
11/18/22, Village Champ R1; +Master Conrad R1

The Meadows
11/18/22, +Leroy Gibbs R2; +Riot R7; +Male Man R9; +Windsong Leo R12

Monticello
11/17/22, Red River Sal R8; Run Around John R9

Northville Downs
11/18/22, Libby's Idea R6; Swan Leader R9; Enchanted Mission R9

Plainridge Park
11/17/22, American Rose R9; +The Lindy Treaty R10

Rosecroft
11/17/22, Taragon R2; Hilarious Lou R9; Transparency R12

Saratoga
11/21/22, +American Tour N R7

Vernon Downs
11/19/22, Bazaar Bazaar R5

Yonkers
11/17/22, Bettorshighlight N R5; Ciel Bleu R6; Ghostintheshell S R7
11/18/22, +Spoileronthebeach (ae) R1; Take A Gamble R5; Apex Seelster R7; Farmer's Tan R10