Harness Racing: Betting the Jugette and Buckette Sept. 22

The Jugette for three-year-old pacing fillies

Delaware Ohio Fair: Wednesday, Sept. 22, three-year-old pacing fillies race in a pair of elimination miles and return later in the program for The Jugette, the filly version of The Little Brown Jug. For harness racing bettors, elimination races could result in more lucrative wagers than a final.

The Jugette and Little Brown Jug present elims on the same programs as their finals. Our betting goals, therefore, concentrate on the elim fields, where the best values might be found.

This season the event’s contestants include a dominating filly of the division, Test Of Faith. Fortunately, Brett Pelling’s sharper-than-sharp filly will only race in the first elim even though, considering the competition, she could probably race in and win both and still come back to win the final.

Three heats are not enough to imagine Test Of Faith will lose the Jugette final (no less her elim), so in the first elim, she becomes a key win horse for all exotic bets -- the race is for second (and third). There are only four other fillies challenging the key horse but, do not wheel them; it could cause you to lose money. It is best to play the longest shot for second and keep it there for triples as well.

In the second elim, we like Chase Lounge, a Sweet Lou filly coming from a roaring win in a qualifier at Philly on Sept. 14. None of the other four are coming from a betting race as impressive as her 10-length qualifying win, which was two seconds faster than the next finisher. We hope she wins as an upset.

The Buckette for three-year-old filly trotters

Two six-horse divisions ($45k each) of the traditional Buckette for soph-filly trotters are also featured on Sept. 22. This may have been more challenging for bettors if it were one mile, but a dozen in two tiers at this track pleases no owners.

The big favorite in round one is Ron Burke’s Hot As Hill, as past class is taken as the major factor for morning line (ML) makers. Next comes post position. We think less of those elements when handicapping. This is why we are supporting Treasure Gems K from post 6.

She is fast. And in 16 starts, she has hit the board a dozen times, earning the second most of the sextet. Norm Parker’s filly has been underrated in all of those races and has a mark on a seven-eighths track that competes with the big favorite.

In the second round, Pub Crawl will be the public choice, followed by May Karp; those two should devour the win pool. Certainly able to upset under the radar is Frankly My Dear, who will almost certainly hit the board while being dismissed by the public. Ten-of-15 times she has done just that for trainer Ron Burke, and many scenarios testify to our certainty that she is a major contender at a price.