Harness Racing: Hoosier Park plays for Oct. 20

(Each week, Cotolo employs money-management tactics to build wagers that focus on plump profits.)

For the program on Oct. 20 at Hoosier Park, we suggest some horses for selected plays that may fit in any type of wager.

Race 4

Whenever I back #3 Atomic Blonde it begins to sound like I simply enjoy playing the trotter named after my favorite Charlize Theron movie, but the frosh filly has been on the brink of a winning fight on the track. She looks good again, this time in a state-bred consolation as a bet-back contender.

A break stepping up too high ruined #10 Spicy Lady’s mile at the beginning of October, and now the Swan For All filly is back at the level she belongs, only from the far outside. She won’t go off the favorite she became in this class two back.

Race 6

Trainer Andy Shetler took over the duties for frosh-colt #7 Vel Larry in late September and put two strong qualifiers into him—one finishing second after a break and the other a win. He came up short in his first betting race for Shetler, but gets an excuse pass for pushing his early lick. He is still trying to dismiss his maiden status and may do so here at a price you won’t see again.

It’s almost too obvious to bring it up but the big morning line (ML) favorite, #1 Luckbewithalex, will be in the mix if he races anything like his Oct. 9 mile.

Race 9

Consider that last week we gave a big shot to #7 Tug and Coop and he went off at 22-1. As a bet-back his ML is 6-1; we were not wrong to make him a contender. In this race he once again has a good shot to win as he learns to spread his speed over four quarters.

Another outsider is #9 Danny Dancer. He has raced better than his odds at this level and should not be a surprise coming on at any call in the race to contend at a price.

Race 12

Another sires-stakes consolation is a good spot for #9 Ezra. Erv Miller’s frosh is 6-for-11 across the board and was just beaten as a close second favorite early in October. He is versatile and can weave a win out of two turns with some urging.

Usually in the swing of things when the wire arrives, #4 Summit City Sonny was racing well against tougher and had some traffic problems to boot. His best mile puts dollars on exotics if he hits the board.

Race 13

A 20-1 ML for #4 American Sara is far too steep for Jeff Cullipher’s seven-year-old mare, who is in a similar situation as she was when she won her last race three back as a favorite in this class.

With Hawthorne closed, Terry Leonard and company bring a number of good ones to Indiana including #7 Dune Dame. She cashed a lot at this level in Chicago and her first start here was strong on Oct. 13.