Harness Racing: Picks & Horses to Watch for Feb. 17-19

We are back with suggested contenders for selected features and our never-ending TwinSpires’ horses-to-watch list (H2W), all of which may greatly improve the prices of your exotic tickets and pump up some win, place and show payoffs.

MOHAWK MILES

Thursday, Feb. 17

Each week 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.

Race 1 - Lux Seelster: Toss out his non-effort on Feb. 12 where he gave in from a bad start.

Race 5 - Wickenburgh: A beaten favorite, losing a big lead in the stretch, may not repeat that kind of mile here.

Thursday, Feb. 17

POWER PLAYS

Monticello - Races 1, 2

A Daily Double (DD) is the Power Plays focus. Two races connected by value. DD would pay well and single-race exotics should, too.

Race 1
Bet-back one from the H2W last week, Hard Workin' Man, can take the first leg, most likely not at the 10-1 he went off last week. There is a chance, though, he will be overlooked enough to establish some value.

Race 2
Also overlooked (5-1) last week was Heaven's Superstar, whose first quarter found him short in the last quarter but needed the assignment, finishing third.

Friday, Feb. 18

FEATURES

Hawthorne - Race 3

Hector Herrera ships Street Boy to Chicago from Ohio for the pacer’s fourth of the season and finds a choice spot for him. What looks like a conditioned step up is one in circuit-value only because the purses and competition at Miami are above this ilk in class. Street Boy finished fifth at Miami, going off at 13-1, racing evenly against tougher stuff.

Joey Putnam’s Three Card (from Hoosier) has come the closest to winning in five starts and may benefit from the outside in a seven-horse field of this mediocre type.

Saturday, Feb. 19

FEATURES

Saratoga - Races 9, 10

Saratoga’s meet is young and we want to cash in before the crowd gets smart and bets many good horses into underlays. As well, want to make your own DD with a parlay if you win the first race? Go for it.

Race 9
Itsonlyrocknroll A had guns blazing at 10-1 and looks to come back with a bigger mile and near-same price. For exotics, use longshot Isaac. He did not deserve to be the longest shot in his last race here (against Itsonlyrocknroll); he has a good history at Saratoga.

Race 10
Simple Kinda Man comes off of two qualifiers, showing signs of improvement in the second, which makes him fit and ready for a big mile. Also from those preps, Skyway Victor starts his season and may go off a strong favorite—good for exotics.

Harness Horses to Watch

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
2/18/22, Brooklyn Windup R1; +Promising Flight R8

Dover
2/17/22, Sicily R10; Shakespeare R13

Freehold
2/18/22, Constnflysidewys A R2

Hawthorne
2/18/22, The Bucket R1; Carlos Mittanna R4; +Rollinwitdaponyzzz R5; Ponda's Prospect R9

Meadowlands
2/18/22, Nimah Franco N R8; +Filly Speaks R8; Keep Rockin A R10
2/19/22, Shvaiko R8; Dean B Hanover R10

Meadows
2/17/22, +Society Jill R3; Octave R5; +Rising MVP R8; Stormin High R11
2/18/22, Celebrated Mr K R4

Miami
2/17/22, Ponderingjacksfame R2; Peter's Royalty R7; I C Caviar R11

Mohawk
2/17/22, Moonlitebeach R6;

Monticello
2/17/22, Heartland Eclipse R5

Northfield
2/19/22, Shes Gold R1; Marced Debutante R12

Pocono
2/19/22, Winning Is Sweet R1; Ain't It Fun R4; Derecho R11; +Lear Seelster R15

Saratoga
2/19/22, +RJ Maverick R3

Yonkers
2/17/22, +Major Battle R1; +Corsini A R4; +Cowgirl Lilly R8
2/18/22, Hash-tag Swag R5