Harness Weekly Update: 33% across-the-board hits

The TwinSpires Harness Blog Weekly Update covers our successes and failures from selected features and the H2W (horses-to-watch list). H2W horses through the following Monday appear in the next Update’s results.

Thursday, July 13

Our trio of Mohawk Miles contenders was beaten by the public. Lyons Shine On (43-1) finished fifth; Kinnder Hotblood (23-1) broke and did not regain stride, finishing seventh; State Of Affairs (39-1) came home eighth.

Friday, July 14

The Philly two-year-old sires stakes were hardly contests, as the four favorite colt trotters easily won. We wound up with one of them, T C I ($3.2-0, $2.60, $2.20). Our three other choices were Little Mark (6-1), fourth; Poisonpoke (11-1), sixth; and Vaquero Blue Chip (17-1), who broke and finished sixth.

Saturday, July 15

Divisions of star-studded standardbreds lined up on Meadowlands Pace night.

Del Miller

In the first of two divisions for soph-filly trotters, our choice, favorite Secret Volo ($2.10), finished third to the public’s third choice (7-2).

In the second division, an 11-1 defeated everyone’s choice, Bond ($2.10), as that one cut fiery fractions to be caught late.

Hambletonian Maturity

We tried to beat Jiggy Jog S but our choice, which was the public’s second choice, Cool Papa Bell (7-1), was empty. Still, “Jog” lost; a 12-1 beat the huge favorite.

William Haughton

Bythemissal (7-2) was another victim of the wild fractions on the card. He finished off the board as another longshot got the best trip and blew out the favorites.

Dorothy Haughton

A field of 11 scrambled for positions and burned a lot of speed, leaving our choice and the second race favorite Silver Label ($2.80) to finish third.

Mistletoe Shalee

A fabulous, heart-throbbing win for us and the favorite, Sylvia Hanover ($3.00, $2.10, $2.10 OK), who was an overlay even at 1-2.

Stanley Dancer

Favorite and our choice Air Power galloped in the stretch and was eliminated as the second choice won easily.

In the second split, Chamba (11-1) did not fire, finishing sixth.

Meadowlands Pace

There was no beating Confederate, the race favorite. The scenario for our longshot contender Ammo never developed.

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Make note below of our new legend on how the H2W is reported. It will appear weekly in our Harness Preview above the current list.

Horses to watch (H2W) are strong contenders evaluated from overnight race charts (including qualifiers), replays, and trainers’ current win percentages. Each horse appears in two consecutive lists if it does not win on its first listing.

H2W horses are suggested for win, place, show (across the board) wagering and to be included in exotic combinations.

Exactas listed in H2W results reflect an H2W horse finishing second to a race favorite or if the first two finishers were on the list, when an asterisk appears for cold exactas. The note “OK” determines prices are correct when a show price exceeds the place price or all three prices are identical.

Some results reflect horses racing after preview blog posts and appear the following week. As well, some horses will not appear a second time when their first time is followed by a race at a non-parimutuel fair. They will get a second time on the list when returning to a betting race.

H2W RESULTS

This week, there were 42 active H2W horses (a 2% win hit rate and a 33% across-the-board hit rate.)

Winners

Ocean Ridge N, $2.60, $3.00, $2.40 OK, Pocono

Seconds

Tardis, $8.40, $3.60, Meadows
Unusual Clarity, $6.00, $2.80, Vernon

Thirds

Mastery, $12.00, Scioto
April’s Surprise, $8.80, Scioto
Circuit Party, $4.50, Saratoga
Pine Master, $4.40, Scioto
Tantrum Blue Chip, $3.20, Hoosier
Good Rockin, $2.80, Meadowlands
Hunting AS, $2.60, Pocono
Vali Hanover, $2.60, Yonkers
Bettorbytheseaside, $2.40, Meadows
Immanuel KS, $2.40, Pocono
Train Station, n/s, Yonkers

NEWS & NOTES

It will be fascinating to find how harness bettors across the globe measure the talents of the magnificent mare Jiggy Jog S when she engages otherworldly trotters in the $1 million MGM Yonkers International Trot on Sept. 9. Trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt’s four-year-old Swedish-bred mare will take on top trotters, including Aldebaran Zeus and Get A Wish, guaranteeing she will not be going off at her usual prohibitive odds. Imagine Jiggy Jog S an overlay. Hmm.

Please send your best wishes to Woodbine Mohawk Park announcer Ken Middleton, who also runs a stable of active horses. He was sidelined indefinitely after undergoing surgery following a serious training accident where he suffered cracks and breaks to multiple vertebrae. He is facing a long recovery.

Our Top 10 Hambletonian Trail contenders follow (final odds will define our win wager).
1) Bond 2) Oh Well 3) Air Power 4) Winner’s Bet 5) Up Your Deo 6) Kierkegaard K 7) Ari Ferrari J 8) Kilmister 9) Celebrity Bambino 10) French Wine

Indulge in our new monthly column, Among Ourselves at Harness Racing Update.