Harness Weekly Update: Crown Elims Fair To Favorites

The TwinSpires Harness Blog Weekly Update covers our successes and failures from selected features and the H2W (horses-to-watch list, now including Hoosier spin-offs).

Thursday, Oct. 21

Grand Circuit Simpson stakes at Philly for soph-filly trotters resulted in our two choices hitting the board. Evening Stroll ($3.40, $2.60) lost to the favorite but created an $8.00 exacta in one split. The other found Hopeful Prayer ($2.80) third against a 5-1 winner.

Thursday’s Mohawk Miles pair included races won by two public choices. Our duo of outside contenders produced a third by Aint He Special ($3.00) and a galloping failure, Stormont Mabel (52-1), eliminated with a break.

Friday, Oct. 22

Here’s how we did with the two-year-old Breeders Crown eliminations:

2yo filly trot elim 1 – The 1-5 favorite, Venerable, broke and did not recover so when our choice, Jaya Bae ($18.00), finished third the price ballooned.
2yo filly trot elim 2 – The favorite won and our two choices, Joviality S ($2.80, $2.20) and Jiggy Jog S ($3.00), completed the $8.00 exacta and $24.00 triple, respectively.

2yo colt pace elim 1 – Caviart Camden (6-1) finished sixth (9-2 won).
2yo colt pace elim 2 – True Blue Lindy (6-1) finished fourth (11-1 won)
2yo colt pace elim 3 – Early Action ($2.10) took third to the winning favorite..

2yo colt trot elim 1 – Temporal Hanover ($2.20) was the favorite, finishing third (5-2 won). Letsdoit S (9-5) finished fourth.
2yo colt trot elim 2 – Cool Papa Bell ($8.40) was third to the favorite.
2yo colt trot elim 3 – Periculum (6-1) was third to the public’s top choice.

2yo filly pace elim – Niki Hill ($2.40, $2.10) placed second while Treacherous Dragon (11-1) finished sixth (23-1 won).

Saturday, Oct. 23

3yo colt trot elim 1 – Fly Light (2-1) got fourth as the favorite, beaten by a 7-2 shot.
3yo colt trot elim 2 – A 6-1 beat our Delayed Hanover ($4.00), third.

3yo colt pace elim 1 – Mysweetboy Max (54-1) proves he is not of this ilk, finishing seventh.
3yo colt pace elim 2 – Our sole winner of the day was Charlie May ($3.60, $2.60, $2.10).

3yo filly pace elim – The favorite won but we made a good showing with Think Of Galaxies (65-1) who finished fifth to make the final.

3yo filly pace trot 1 – The favorite won this, too, and again we made the final with Shirley Goodness (8-1).
3yo filly pace trot 2 – Strongly second, we had Iteration ($21.40, $11.80) to the favorite winner, connecting with a $1 exacta worth $37.20.

Mare Pace elim – Lyons Sentinel ($2.10) finally lost to perpetual placer Rocknificent.

Mare Trot elim – When Dovescry ($2.20, $2.10) finished second to the favorite, an exacta worth $2.20.

Open Pace – An 8-1 defeated the favorite, and our Captain Barbossa (35-1) finished ninth.

H2W LIST RESULTS

The H2W results list across-the-board prices. Exactas listed include a H2W horse finishing second to a race-favorite or if the first two finishers are H2W horses (an asterisk appears when both horses are listed—a cold exacta). The note “OK” determines that prices are correct (even when a show price exceeds a place price or all prices are the same).

Please note that some results reflect horses racing after the blog posts (they appear the following week).

This week, there were 34 active horses (a 24% win hit rate and a 50% ATB [across-the-board] hit). Horses with asterisks before their names were tweets @FrankCotolo. Follow for late choices.

Winners

JV Alert, $27.60, $5.70, $3.10, Batavia
Dune Dame, $18.40, $8.00, $4.40, Hoosier
Artists Ruffles, $17.20, $9.00, $18.40 OK, Pocono
Mr D Duff, $7.20, $2.80, $3.00, Freehold
Frontier Cruise, $5.50, $3.10, $2.70, Mohawk
Noble Legend, $3.70, $2.70, $2.50, Batavia
Luckbewithalex, $3.20, $2.60, $2.10, Hoosier
Westcoast Dragon, $2.60, $2.20, $2.20 OK, Northville

Seconds

Some Royalty, $16.60, $8.20, Vernon
Run Around John, $6.70, $3.10, Monticello
Nesh Cruiser, $3.00, $2.80, Vernon
Vow To Wow, $2.20, $2.10, Northville
Catello Too, $2.10, $2.20 OK, Vernon

Thirds

Indiana Cam, $11.00, Dayton
Summit City Sonny, $6.20, Hoosier
Tug And Coop, $4.20, Hoosier
Regal Son, $2.10, Pocono

NEWS & NOTES

Kentucky Downs and Keeneland representatives celebrated the groundbreaking of a new horse racing facility in Williamsburg, Kentucky, on Oct. 19. The Cumberland Mint racing facility features two different locations 15 miles apart. The Gaming Hall in Williamsburg features Historical Horse Racing Machines, simulcasting, a sports bar, and dining. The racing facility, located in Corbin, will hold harness racing. Groundbreaking for the racing facility is expected soon.

Yannick Gingras won four times on Oct. 23’s “Crown” card. During the course of the weekend, he took five trips to the winner’s circle in Crown events. On Oct. 22, it was trainer Domenico Cecere who supplied three winning horses for Gingras, and on Saturday, it was his go-to conditioner Ron Burke supplying a trio of victories.

Extraordinary Extras

Indulge in our columns, Alternative Actions and Bettors Banquet, at Harness Racing Update.